Knicks Draft: A Late Bloomer with Pure Point Potential
Junior Ayo Dosunmu was perhaps the breakout star of College Basketball during the 2020-2021 season; just as his one-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini were the breakout team.
Standing at 6’5’, Dosunmu, an AP First Team All American, is an all-around point guard with an impressive 2020-2021 stat line; he’s averaging 21 points per game with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Dosunmu can score in a variety of ways. He is a 39 percent three-point shooter with nifty dribbling moves and footwork.
As good as his scoring is, though, it is Dosunmu’s old school, pure point-guard skills that intrigue me most. He is always under control with the ball in his hands and can control the pace of a game. His instincts are strong: he has a sense of when to create for his teammates and when to score. These are increasingly rare skills in the NBA.
Dosunmu is a textbook example of a prospect being patient and not leaping into the NBA too soon. He could have entered the 2019 and 2020 drafts and likely would have been taken in the late first or early second rounds. Now, thanks to his steady improvement, he is a possible lottery pick.
Dosunmu would almost certainly be at least a top 5 if not for some athletic liabilities. He plays small at 6’5’, 200 pounds, and could be pushed around by physical guards in the NBA. He is also not quite the pure passer that top prospects Cade Cunningham and Jalen Suggs are.
All in all, though, Dosunmu is a Thibs friendly player with the potential to run a successful offense in the NBA. The Knicks will only be able to get him if the Bulls do not first, though, as Dosunmu is a Chicago area lifer and fills a need for that franchise.