Bulls

Ayo Dosunmu is trying not to get frustrated.

It’s hard. Last spring Dosunmu was deadly behind the 3-point arc, hitting 24 of 51 (47.1%) over his final 11 games to finish above 40% for the season. But in the early weeks of this season, he can’t find his shot.

Dosunmu likes the looks he’s getting. His form feels good. He trusts himself and remains confident night after night. Yet the misses keep coming — and the frustration is hard to keep at bay.

“Sometimes I laugh because I understand I put so much work into it,” Dosunmu said. “When people doubt themselves — doubt their shots or whatever it may be in life — it’s because they’re not putting enough work in to believe. But I’m fully confident in my shot.”

Last season Dosunmu shot 40.3% on 3.9 3-point attempts per game. In the first 10 games this season, entering Monday night’s home game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was shooting 21.7% on 4.6 attempts per game and hadn’t made more than two 3-pointers in a game.

The drop-off is steep. And after 10 games, it no longer feels like a fluke. So how can Dosunmu revive his 3-point shooting as the Bulls acclimate to becoming one of the highest-volume 3-point shooting teams in the NBA?

Dosunmu can pinpoint a few small tweaks he needs to make to his shooting mechanics. The ball is too low when it exits his hand. As a result, it follows a shallow parabola to the basket that offers a lower-probability angle. This likely comes from speeding up his shot, something Dosunmu has noted about his form in catch-and-shoot opportunities.

After practice and during pregame shootarounds, Dosunmu is putting in the work to make those adjustments. He consults with player development director Peter Patton during these extra shooting sessions, attempting to locate the hiccup

“I’ve got to just look at the film, look at the mechanics and just make sure that I’m shooting the right shot with the right form,” Dosunmu said. “You put so much work — hours, days, long nights, early mornings — into the shot, so you have a sense of excitement and enjoyment knowing that the work will show.”

The strange thing is this slump isn’t affecting Dosunmu elsewhere on the court. He’s shooting 60.4% inside the arc. His overall production has remained consistent, averaging 0.8 more assists and 1.4 fewer points than last season while moving back out of the starting lineup to make room for Josh Giddey and Zach LaVine.

And the green light hasn’t gone away. The Bulls are under orders this season to shoot 3s at will. Dosunmu’s 2-for-10 performance behind the arc in Wednesday’s road loss to the Dallas Mavericks was one of his worst outings of the season — but it also showed a willingness to keep shooting through a slump.

As he attempts to break out of the rut, Dosunmu can look to teammate Nikola Vucevic for inspiration.

Last season was arguably the worst of Vucevic’s career, as he dipped below 30% on 3s for the first time since he embraced long-range shooting as a stretch five. At a certain point, Vucevic admitted, the shooting became a mental problem rather than a physical one.

But he cleaned the slate this season and is off to a team-best 47.7% behind the arc.

Dosunmu hopes to follow that same process — just on a shorter timeline.

“(Vucevic) is a testament to that,” Dosunmu said. “It’s all about just continuing the work, continuing to believe. You can’t think about the last shot. You can’t think about shots from three games ago. You’ve got to take it one shot at a time, one game at a time and just live in the moment.”