Matas Buzelis Could Help Usher Chicago Bulls into New Era

For most of the pre-draft cycle, Ignite forward Ron Holland was thought to be sliding, while his counterpart Matas Buzelis retained top-five stock.

On 2024 NBA Draft night, though, exactly the opposite happened, with Holland landing at No. 5 and Buzelis sliding down to the Chicago Bulls at No. 11. Despite the slide, Buzelis was overjoyed at landing with his hometown Bulls.

The choice was a no-brainer for Chicago, as Buzelis offers tremendous upside as a jumbo wing. At nearly 6-foot-10, Buzelis averaged 14.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.1 block in 26 games. Despite an up-and-down season on the efficiency front, he still portrayed a unique blend of shot-making, rim-protection, as well as passing and playmaking. And he projects to be one of the better upside swings in the draft.

Chicago has long found itself in the middle ground of the NBA, unable to nab coveted Playoff wins, or on the flip-side, top draft picks. Finally, though, the team has begun to offload win-now assets, starting with Alex Caruso for young point guard Josh Giddey.

With the team potentially set to ship off both DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, too, Buzelis could be one of the first to help lead the team into a new era. Alongside Giddey, the two will function as positionally lengthy ball-handlers with the ability to do a little of everything.

Buzelis landing in the high end of his upside spectrum — a real possibility given his reported work ethic and basketball pedigree — could help the Bulls out of the middle ground sooner than later.