All the hoopla around the Minnesota Timberwolves now involves LaMelo Ball teaming up with Anthony Edwards, making for one of the league's most dynamic backcourts after the team traded for Ball on Thursday.
That deal for Ball almost makes the re-signing of Ayo Dosunmu a forgotten transaction. Traded for back in February, Dosunmu re-upped with the club on a five-year deal worth $112 million (last year is a player option) late Monday evening.
Most of the predictions regarding Dosunmu’s next contract believed he would make somewhere close to $18-20 million per season, so the $22.5 million average annual value seemed like a slight overpay. After the Charlotte Hornets gave Coby White a new three-year, $74 million ($24.67 million per year) deal though on Thursday, Ayo’s deal seems a lot more reasonable.
Former teammates that are deserving of similar deals
Dosunmu and White were teammates on the Chicago Bulls for 4 full seasons, and part of a fifth, until both of them were traded away at this past February’s trade deadline. Both are 26 years old, with Dosunmu being about one month older than White.
Both are 6-foot-4 guards who can play the point but probably wouldn’t be considered pure point guards. There are clearly a lot of similarities, although they aren't exact facsimiles of each other on the court.
I’m not going to discuss who the better player is between them. That depends on what attributes you prefer, as both have their advantages over the other. If you want to truly name who is better, it’s something you would have to give some thought to, though, as it’s not a simple answer.
Both performed well with their new teams after being traded away by Chicago. For their careers, the advanced metrics seem to slightly prefer Dosunmu over White as he has small advantages in win shares per 48 minutes, box plus/minus (BPM), and Value over Replacement Player (VORP). They are all very small edges in favor of Dosunmu, though, where they don’t paint a clear picture that Ayo is obviously the better player.
The Hornets probably felt more inclined to ensure that White remains on the club after trading away Ball. That trade will likely insert him into their starting lineup next season.
Would the Wolves have given the same deal to Dosunmu that they did if they knew they’d be acquiring LaMelo shortly after? That isn’t known, but his contract seems fair when compared to White's.
