Don’t look now, but Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu is playing some good basketball so far this season.
On second thought, you had better look now or you just might miss it.
Such is life for the 10th man on an NBA roster, especially on a roster with a coach that usually plays nine.
But that’s where Dosunmu comes in. The former Morgan Park and Illinois standout is taking coach Billy Donovan out of that comfort zone.
Dosunmu’s play is forcing Donovan to find minutes for him. It’s not always many — only nine minutes in the Bulls’ season-opening loss to the Thunder and 10 in their overtime loss Wednesday to the Suns — but Dosunmu’s attitude is that it’s better to get a little playing time and be a thought than sit and watch from the bench as an afterthought.
‘‘I just feel like it’s a unique team that we have,’’ Dosunmu said. ‘‘Early in this season, this is just what comes with it. Of course, us all being competitive, we all want to go out there and play as many minutes as possible. But with just how the game is, this team is, it doesn’t always go like that.
‘‘I just try and really continue to get better, work on my craft, doing whatever it takes to help the team win. Then over time, if you show that consistent play and stay on that track of reaching my full potential, it will all take care of itself.’’
Dosunmu is definitely on a track. Besides working on his game during the summer, he added six pounds of muscle while maintaining his speed and burst.
It’s showing. While he’s only averaging 11.7 minutes in a crowded backcourt, there’s some treasure to be found for analytics nerds who take the time to look deeper into his stats.
Dosunmu is one of only four Bulls players on the positive side in terms of plus/minus (plus-15), and his plus/minus per 100 possessions on the court (plus-10.4) leads the team. Also, his value over a replacement player is fifth on the team.
In other words, the Bulls giving him a three-year, $21 million extension in July was probably one of the better decisions by a front office that hasn’t been great in that department.
‘‘I definitely felt like they were committed to me,’’ Dosunmu said. ‘‘My mentality is to show them I can keep getting better. I genuinely believe we don’t have a starting five; we have a legitimate nine or 10 people that can go out there and play.
‘‘My mindset is to do whatever it takes so that Coach has to have me on the court because I’m doing good things on both ends. Get better and leave the decision to Coach.’’
That’s why Donovan is trying to find Dosunmu some minutes, whether it’s a solid five-minute stint or a few minutes at the end of the half.
‘‘I usually [play] nine guys, but because Ayo had a good training camp and has played well in this early part, you try and find minutes,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘The unfortunate part sometimes is the guy that is in the role that he’s in, there’s not going to be a lot of minutes. There’s just sometimes not enough minutes to go around.
‘‘[Dosunmu] has done a really good job taking advantage of the time he has gotten.’’
Don’t expect that to change.
‘‘Just keep getting better,’’ Dosunmu said. ‘‘Make it hard not to give me minutes.’’
