The Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a rebuild, even though the front office and ownership fail to admit it.
The Bulls so far this month are 1-4, and since the trade deadline, the Bulls have scored 264 to 203. The Bulls were recently blown out by the Detroit Pistons 132-92, where Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis was the leading scorer with 12.0 points.
Even though the Bulls have been playing poorly, Buzelis has been stellar and could be a future All-Star of the team.
A future floor general for the Chicago Bulls
The 20-year-old has seen his minutes steadily increase since the trade deadline and has even been named the Bulls starting forward. In his last ten games, Matas has averaged 22.5 minutes, 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and has a block a game. Buzelis has also been stellar in shooting from behind the arc, shooting 51.7% in that span and shooting 61.6% from the field.
The next step in Buzelis’s development will be creating shots not only for himself but for others as well. Having Matas show that he can have the offense run through him and be the Bull’s floor general will be a big step in his development and for the rebuild.
Matas is still developing
The 6-10 forward is still growing into his body, and is giving fans a glimpse at what the future has in store. Bulls beat writer Will Gottlieb agrees with thinking that the next step for Matas will be creating shots for himself and his teammates.
“There aren’t many guys in the NBA who have a handle like he does at 6 foot 10.”
@Will_Gottlieb thinks on-ball creation will determine a potential All-Star ceiling for Matas Buzelis.”
"There aren't many guys in the NBA who have a handle like he does at 6 foot 10."@Will_Gottlieb thinks on-ball creation will determine a potential All Star ceiling for Matas Buzelis. pic.twitter.com/QeLKsMxsmZ
— CHGO Bulls (@CHGO_Bulls) February 11, 2025
To see that from the Bulls forward would be a big step in his development and will prove that he’s the main piece for the Bulls to build around. The Bulls have quite a few facilitators of the basketball, and Buzelis will have plenty of opportunities to score with that being the case.
Buzelis will have a chance to show his skills to the broader NBA, with him set to participate in the NBA Dunk Contest. Matas has been practicing to take home the trophy and has even displayed some of his dunks in the game.
The @EnjoyBBall guys caught a glimpse of what @BuzelisMatas has in store for the 2025 #ATTSlamDunk contest after throwing him a few lobs 👀
🍿 Saturday Feb. 15th, 8pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/ymbZLduPPu
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2025
Meet Matas at the rim!@CHSN__ | @BuzelisMatas pic.twitter.com/CODmVg3CSc
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 12, 2025
The future is here
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
The future of the Bulls is here, and it starts with Buzelis. In his first season, Buzelis has shown he’s capable of performing many aspects of the game, such as scoring and going from a role player to a starter.
In such a short span, the rookie has given some glimmers of hope that maybe it will be worth investing some energy into the rest of the Bulls season.
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