Richey | Dosunmu sticking with Bulls

Jul. 22—NBA free agency is into its third week after a July 1 start and a cavalcade of moves in the first 24 hours. A move that still wasn't made before Friday?

Ayo Dosunmu landing somewhere, anywhere, for his third NBA season.

But it turns out, the former Illinois guard won't have to familiarize himself with new surroundings.

According to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday afternoon, Dosunmu will sign a three-year, $21 million contract to stay with the Chicago Bulls, the franchise that took the Chicago native in the second round of the 2021 NBA draft.

Dosunmu had a qualifying offer he could have signed with the Bulls — a one-year deal worth $5.2 million — but word was mum until Friday afternoon's tweet from Wojnarowski.

What Friday's news means to Dosunmu's future with the Bills seems to indicate he will have a significant role. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard averaged 8.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists this past season with the Bulls, starting 51 games and playing in 80 total.

Before Friday, how Dosunmu would fit in for coach Billy Donovan's Bulls in the 2023-24 season was part of the conversation on the latest "Bulls Talk" podcast with K.C. Johnson, Jason Goff and Tony Gill.

"They're at 12 guaranteed contracts, and, to me, the rotation — at least the first nine — is pretty set," Johnson said. That would be Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Alex Caruso, Patrick Williams, Torrey Craig, Jevon Carter and Andre Drummond.

"Sometimes, Billy likes to play 10, but they're lacking some size. That 10th guy may be like a Javonte Green/Derrick Jones Jr. clone of those kind of guys. Ayo's kind of the odd man out right now. My read, as I've said before, is that they're either trying to drive his price down on a multi-year deal or dangle him in a sign-and-trade situation to maybe get a bigger target."

Dosunmu has not yet matched the production he had at Illinois in his first two seasons in the NBA. But Friday's decision by the Bulls makes it clear he's set to become a key part of the franchise's future.

Just how much is up to Dosunmu now.

That's a wrapNBA Summer League action wrapped up this past Monday with the Cleveland Cavaliers thumping the Houston Rockets 99-78 in the championship game in Las Vegas. Former Illini Matthew Mayer came off the bench for the Rockets and put up 11 points and seven rebounds to go with one assist and one steal in the losing effort.

It took Mayer a little time to get on the court, what with Houston having invested a bit more in Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason (i.e. first-round picks). But once Smith and Eason finished up their Summer League run, Mayer helped his roster spot-seeking cause. Whether he lands on an NBA roster come this fall, of course, is still to be determined. Might not even be with the Rockets. But Mayer showed enough flashes to likely drum up some interest, averaging 12.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in four games while shooting 52 percent overall and 43 percent from three-point range.

Mayer was arguably the most productive former Illini among the six playing in Las Vegas and certainly the most productive of the two that actually ended their college careers in Champaign. The other, Malcolm Hill, had a pair of five-point, five-rebound games for the Orlando Magic playing a reserve role off the bench.

Another former Illini that could make a case for top Summer League productivity? That would be Brandin Podziemski, who, of course, finished his career at Santa Clara but played just as many seasons at Illinois as Mayer. As in just the one.

Podziemski, a first-round pick of the Golden State Warriors, averaged 8.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and six assists and came up one rebound shy of a triple-double in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. What Podziemski wasn't, though, was very efficient. He shot 26 percent from the field overall and made 22 percent of his three-point attempts.

The only other performance of note came from Tevian Jones in an 82-73 victory for New Orleans against the Phoenix Suns. The former Illinois guard, who played his final three seasons at Southern Utah, came off the bench for 16 points and five rebounds in the win.

Phoenix risingPhoenix Gill didn't play much at St. Ignatius in the 2021-22 season. But the freshman guard was there every step of the way as the Wolfpack made the first state tournament appearance in school history. Gill's role grew in the 2022-23 season, as St. Ignatius made it back to Champaign and a second straight Class 3A state tournament. He averaged 11.7 points, three rebounds and 2.7 assists and had something of a combo guard role. Some on the ball, but more off.

Heading into his junior season, Gill said his game has grown in several areas.

"Coming in from my freshman year, I was a catch-and-shoot guy," said the oldest son of Flyin' Illini Kendall Gill. "I really wasn't handling the ball that much. This season, I've been taking more of the ball-handling duties and being more of a point guard, shooting guard, combo guard type of player. I feel like I've really improved on that part and also have been getting better on my shooting and defense. Just an overall better player."

An overall better player that can hold his own against his dad.

"He's surpassed me," Kendall Gill said. "I can't beat him anymore."

Phoenix Gill said that's been the case basically since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That's the first time I actually beat him in a real game," said the younger Gill. "I think I could do more damage against him now. He doesn't try to play me. Of course, he wants to keep that title. He doesn't want to get embarrassed out there. I don't think he could beat me anymore. That's just how it is."

Recruiting talkClass of 2025 center Daniel Jacobsen has experienced a high-major bump in his recruitment in the last week with new offers from Xavier, Minnesota and Illinois. It's doubled his total number of offers, with New Mexico State, Tulsa and New Mexico also involved and likely more to follow for the three-star prospect.

Jacobsen's rise in recruitment level followed his spring and summer on the Nike EYBL circuit with JL3. The 7-foot-1, 220-pound center averaged 7.3 points and 5.1 rebounds during the regular season while shooting 47 percent from the field. He bumped that up to 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with a 51/42/75 shooting slash at Peach Jam earlier this month.

Jacobsen started his high school career at La Cueva (N.M.), where he averaged 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore. The Albuquerque, N.M., native transferred to Legacy Early College in Greenville, S.C., for the 2022-23 season and will play at Brewster Academy (N.H.) this coming season after reclassifying back to the 2025 class.

Way down the road

Jaylan Mitchell is 14 years old. The Olney native, who moved to Evansville, Ind., last summer, won't play his first high school basketball game at Evansville Reitz until November. He'll do so with at least four (and likely many more) Division I scholarship offers.

Both Evansville and Southern Indiana offered the new hometown kid last fall when he was an eighth grader at Reitz feeder school Helfrich Park STEM Academy. Illinois became the 6-foot-7, 190-pound wing's first high-major offer in mid-July, and Arizona State offered the next day. He's the first Class of 2027 recruit on the Illini's board.

Mitchell played up this spring and summer for Brad Beal Elite's E15 team on the Nike EYBL circuit. He averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 13 "regular-season" games while shooting 46 percent from the field overall, 40 percent from three-point range (on just more than four attempts per game) and 61 percent at the free-throw line.

Mitchell was just as productive at Peach Jam this month. Brad Beal Elite went 3-2 in North Augusta, S.C., and Mitchell led the team in scoring. He put up 15.2 points, four rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Johnson wasn't as efficient at Peach Jam as during the bulk of the EYBL season — few players were — and he shot 38 percent overall, 32 percent from three-point range and 67 percent at the free-throw line.

Still, he's a name to keep an eye on. Well into the future.

Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).