The Chicago Bulls are minutes away from tipping off at Washington, set to take on the Wizards in the first of the seven games that they have left in the regular season. To analyze where they might be headed, down the home stretch of the season and into the postseason, we had an exclusive with Kendall Gill, NBA record holder and NBC Sports Chicago Analyst. We caught up with him to talk Bulls, Illini, Ayo Dosunmu and more.
“We’ve all been through some tests throughout the season, but I still have faith,” Gill said at the branded event this past Friday night in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood.
“There’s one thing you got to do and that is you got to stay out of the play-in.”
“You got to win three or four of the next nine, in order to stay above, and finish 6, 5, or 4, I think that’s where we’ll finish- we should do that.
The Bull split the two games since Gill made these remarks, and they’re currently fifth place in the Eastern Conference, 4.5 games out of the top spot, level on record, but holding the tie-breaker over sixth place Toronto.
They are only ahead of seventh place Cleveland by a skinny game.
In a league where almost everybody makes the playoffs, the Bulls haven’t qualified since 2017. And they haven’t advanced past the first round since 2015.
Chicago has spent a good portion of this season, however, up near the top two or three teams in the East. Still, they find themselves in real danger right now of potentially falling into the dreaded play-in slots of the postseason, the NBA’s version of the NCAA Tournament First Four.
“Hopefully, Lonzo Ball will come back,” added Gill, 53, who played one season with the Chicago Bulls.
“That has to do with the one thing that we have not been all season. With the exception of the beginning of the season, we haven’t been whole. I just want to see us all healthy and then see what we can do.”
He has a great point, as the 2021-22 Bulls have never truly had all hands on deck at any point of this season.
They have suffered a rash of injuries, some of which opened the door for Ayo Dosunmu to step and make a name for himself.
Dosunmu, like Gill is from the Chicagoland area and played his college ball at the University of Illinois. Dosunmu is really exceeding expectations this season as next to no one thought the middle of the second round draft pick would get starters minutes on this Bulls team.
Right now, the latest NBA.com rookie index has him #8 overall in the league.
That leaves him shy of making the All-Rookie first team, but still comfortably on the All-Rookie second team.
“He may be able to squeeze in first team all rookie,” Gill responded when asked about the prospects for Dosunmu.
“You got a few guys ahead of him that have play a lot more starter minutes and have higher scoring averages. And also it depends on where the Bulls finish is.
“If the Bulls finish like, fourth, fifth, sixth and avoid the play-in, then he could possibly get first team right now.
“I don’t think there is any question whatsoever that he makes the second team, but first they got to win some more games.”
Dosunmu saw his stock fall on draft night, but his fast learning curve and surprisingly solid season has quieted the doubters.
“The key was, he stayed in school, three years,” the 1990 Big Ten scoring champion said of the 2021 USA Today Player of the Year.
“He has a high basketball IQ, can understand the game, and he’s not just mature, mentally.
“He’s mature physically- see the way his body looks. You know, he’s ready for the rigors of the world. A lot of these guys that are one-and-done guys, they come in, they’re not really ready to play.
“But Ayo was and also, Ayo is a big point guard, he’s six-foot-five.
“And you know you that didn’t come around often. So you saw him in some of the games (early on) struggling a little bit, but then they put the ball in his hands, and he got to do what he did and he became the All-American guy that we saw the past two years down at the University of Illinois.
“So that’s the key, they put the basketball back in his hands.
“Nobody wants their teammates to get hurt, right, but Lonzo Ball going out was sort of a blessing in disguise for Ayo Because he got a chance to really play a number of minutes, instead of just five minutes or so (per night).”
It’s true, the best is yet to come for Ayo Dosunmu’s NBA career.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.