MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The first game Ayo Dosunmu plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves will be his first for a team outside his home state.
The opportunity to join an NBA title contender was worth sacrificing some comfort.
Dosunmu was traded by the rebuilding Chicago Bulls along with third-year forward Julian Phillips to Minnesota on Thursday for deep reserves Rob Dillingham and Leonard Miller and four second-round draft pick in the frenetic final hours leading up to the league's trade deadline.
A Chicago native who played at the University of Illinois, Dosunmu turned to journaling to process his emotions after the trade.
"I was just writing how I was feeling, embracing that, and then as hours went on I was able to understand and be like, ‘Yeah, this is a great opportunity for me,’” Dosunmu said Friday. “I pretty much was there my whole basketball career. So I’m excited to step away from that and really tap into more of my full potential, and I think I have a great opportunity here with the T-wolves.”
The 26-year-old Dosunmu, who is averaging a career-high 15 points and shooting a career-best 45.1% from 3-point range, was targeted by the Timberwolves to address a persistent need for more offense off the bench. The departure via free agency prior to the season by versatile guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has left a void in the rotation that the Timberwolves wanted to try to fill for the stretch run and the playoffs, as they seek to capitalize on the ascendance of star Anthony Edwards and surpass their Western Conference finals appearances of the last two years.
Dosunmu and Phillips were ruled out of playing for Minnesota on Friday against New Orleans, but Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said he hopes to get Dosunmu up to speed in time for a game Sunday against the Clippers.
Dosunmu will be a free agent after the season. By acquiring him now, the Timberwolves have his “Bird Rights” which would allow them to exceed the salary cap by re-signing him and offer him more money and term than any other team.
“We're certainly hopeful it's a long-term match,” said Tim Connelly, Minnesota's president basketball of operations. “He wasn't just identified for the next 30-plus games. He was identified because we think he's a guy that could be a huge part of our core."
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.
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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
Chicago Bulls' Ayo Dosunmu loses the ball in front of Milwaukee Bucks' AJ Green during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has found former major league outfielder Yasiel Puig guilty of obstruction of justice and lying to federal officials investigating an illegal gambling operation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday.
The verdict came after a multiweek trial that featured testimony from Major League Baseball officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach that Puig placed bets through. Puig now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced May 26.
Puig's attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, said the government failed to prove key elements of its case and that she plans to raise post-trial motions.
“We look forward to clearing Yasiel’s name,” Axel said.
Puig, 35, initially pled guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation. He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea agreement that he wracked up more than $280,000 in losses over a few months in 2019 while wagering on tennis, football and basketball games through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.
Nix pled guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and subscribing to a false tax return. He is still awaiting sentencing.
Authorities said Puig placed at least 900 bets through Nix-controlled betting websites and through a man who worked for Nix.
Prosecutors said that during a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied knowing about the nature of his bets, who he was betting with, and the circumstances of paying his gambling debts.
But he changed his tune months later, announcing that he was switching his plea to not guilty because of “significant new evidence,” according to a statement from his attorneys in Los Angeles.
“I want to clear my name,” Puig said in the statement. “I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.”
The government argued that he intentionally misled the federal investigators. They played in court audio clips of Puig speaking English and brought expert witnesses to testify on Puig's cognitive abilities, the New York Times reported.
His attorneys said that Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental-health issues and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him during the interview with federal investigators where he purportedly lied.
Puig's former attorney Steven Gebelin testified that during the January 2022 interview, Puig tried to be helpful in answering the investigators' questions and the interpreter struggled with Puig’s Spanish language dialect, according to the New York Times.
Puig batted .277 with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs while appearing in seven major league seasons, the first six with the Dodgers, where he earned an All-Star selection in 2014.
Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully called Puig the “wild horse” for his on-field antics and talent at a young age, joining MLB at 22, a year after escaping his home country of Cuba.
He played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians in 2019 before becoming a free agent. He then played in the Mexican League and last year he signed a one-year, $1 million contact with South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes.
FILE - Venezuela's Yasiel Puig heads to first after drawing a bases loaded walk to score Ehire Adrianza during the third inning of a Caribbean Series baseball game against Curacao, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
