2024 NBA Draft - Chicago Bulls select Matas Buzelis with the 11th pick

[coldfish]

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Great pick. Might be the best move of the AKME era. A 3rd year player but has some serious potential. He is athletic and aggressive and has some dog in him.

Love this mixtape. 6'10 and he handles the ball really well. Change of direction, advanced dribble moves, movement in tight spaces. Really need to improve that shot but his feel has me excited.

What surprised me is how bouncey he is. Between this and the workout videos, he is regularly getting his head near rim level on dunks.

I think the concerns about his shot are overblown. He has nice form. He doesn't have a high or fast release so he isn't going to lead the league in 3 pointers but I think he could quickly get to the point where teams don't just ignore him behind the line (cough Vucevic cough).

[DuckIII]

Side note, he was playing hurt at the beginning of the year. I believe he shot 39% from 3 over his last 10 games of the season.

Regardless, you can see the form is there. He has a very nice looking shot, technically. I am confident he can develop into a perfectly serviceable 3 pt shooter within a couple of years. The foundation is clearly there.

He's not like Holland (who I also loved) whose shot is much more of a rebuild project.

[madvillian]

I don't think he's in any way competing with Patrick for the starting PF slot, I think he's a very raw prospect that you would pick for the long term. And that's what the Bulls should be doing.

I think he'll play significant minutes as a rookie for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we literally have no one even remotely like him on the entire roster. Our roster balance is so trash and outdated that he is a damn unicorn in Chicago.

Its crazy how true that is. There can't possibly be another team in the NBA who could have drafted Matas and you'd end up saying that about.

You can tick another data point on the board for moving off the demar and zach are on the roster what do we do around them meta. As you said well, this is a player most teams have in some form, but we had nothing. Now we have one of the more promising big perimeter skilled guys, we should try and build a bit of the focus around getting him in his spots.

[League Circles]

Yeah at the moment I expect the Bulls to keep Patrick and he'll split the 4 spot with Buzelis I'd guess. I actually like a long term lineup where Coby and Patrick are the defensive guards, Giddey and Buzelis the forwards, and a rim protecting C.

[2weekswithpay]

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Great pick. Might be the best move of the AKME era. A 3rd year player but has some serious potential. He is athletic and aggressive and has some dog in him.

Love this mixtape. 6'10 and he handles the ball really well. Change of direction, advanced dribble moves, movement in tight spaces. Really need to improve that shot but his feel has me excited.

What surprised me is how bouncey he is. Between this and the workout videos, he is regularly getting his head near rim level on dunks.

I think the concerns about his shot are overblown. He has nice form. He doesn't have a high or fast release so he isn't going to lead the league in 3 pointers but I think he could quickly get to the point where teams don't just ignore him behind the line (cough Vucevic cough).

He shot well from 3 as a senior, it was only one season but that's better than nothing. The FT% is a bit concerning though.

[WindyCityBorn]

More like a SF

No, more like exactly like a power forward.

Exception to the rule I think that you are who you can guard. Maybe eventually he can guard a couple positions but there ain't no way in hell he's anything but a modern PF on offense right now.

I'd like to see him and Pat play a bit together in the preseason, see what happens. Vuc doesn't fit at all here as the 5 next to them, which yea. Bummer.

He’s 19. Do you not expect him to gain muscle and stronger? He is a PF all the way.

[Red8911]

Side note, he was playing hurt at the beginning of the year. I believe he shot 39% from 3 over his last 10 games of the season.

Regardless, you can see the form is there. He has a very nice looking shot, technically. I am confident he can develop into a perfectly serviceable 3 pt shooter within a couple of years. The foundation is clearly there.

He's not like Holland (who I also loved) whose shot is much more of a rebuild project.

Looks like the shooting coach has to work over time this year with Matas and Giddey.

[coldfish]

Side note, he was playing hurt at the beginning of the year. I believe he shot 39% from 3 over his last 10 games of the season.

Regardless, you can see the form is there. He has a very nice looking shot, technically. I am confident he can develop into a perfectly serviceable 3 pt shooter within a couple of years. The foundation is clearly there.

He's not like Holland (who I also loved) whose shot is much more of a rebuild project.

I said before the draft that I wanted Holland but you are dead right. I have no idea what happened tonight. I thought Matas was clearly the better player and wouldn't even be available.

[madvillian]

Yeah at the moment I expect the Bulls to keep Patrick and he'll split the 4 spot with Buzelis I'd guess. I actually like a long term lineup where Coby and Patrick are the defensive guards, Giddey and Buzelis the forwards, and a rim protecting C.

That makes a lot of sense. Get a defensive center, Pat keeps that shot wetter and wetter, keeps working on his agility, and is a high volume solid defending 3. Buzelis is the scorer at the 4. A defensive center holds it down with plenty of shooting otherwise.

White, Ayo and Giddey are a decent three man mix at the guard spots. We're an elite wing or 5 away from being anything that really matters, but at least you could dream on that.

[DASMACKDOWN]

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Great pick. Might be the best move of the AKME era. A 3rd year player but has some serious potential. He is athletic and aggressive and has some dog in him.

Love this mixtape. 6'10 and he handles the ball really well. Change of direction, advanced dribble moves, movement in tight spaces. Really need to improve that shot but his feel has me excited.

What surprised me is how bouncey he is. Between this and the workout videos, he is regularly getting his head near rim level on dunks.

I think the concerns about his shot are overblown. He has nice form. He doesn't have a high or fast release so he isn't going to lead the league in 3 pointers but I think he could quickly get to the point where teams don't just ignore him behind the line (cough Vucevic cough).

His comp is Franz Wagner but a bouncier version.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

I like the pick. Mostly I like that they "got their guy" without having to trade up. Maybe this has been discussed already, but any thoughts on why he dropped? Or was, like, 4-12 pretty much interchangeable?

[kodo]

PG - Giddey 6' 8"
SG - White 6' 5"
SF - Flagg 6' 9"
PF - Buzelis 6' 10"
C- Vucevic

That's some good size there.

[chitownsports4ever]

I don't think he's in any way competing with Patrick for the starting PF slot, I think he's a very raw prospect that you would pick for the long term. And that's what the Bulls should be doing.

I think he'll play significant minutes as a rookie for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we literally have no one even remotely like him on the entire roster. Our roster balance is so trash and outdated that he is a damn unicorn in Chicago.

Its crazy how true that is. There can't possibly be another team in the NBA who could have drafted Matas and you'd end up saying that about.

There is zero reason he shouldn't be starting at the four and if Pat returns hes the three . Julian Phillips can insert himself into the mix as well come camp.

[League Circles]

Contender next year?

C: Drummond
PF: Buzelis
SF: Giddey
SG: Zach
PG: Coby

[madvillian]

PG - Giddey 6' 8"
SG - White 6' 5"
SF - Flagg 6' 9"
PF - Buzelis 6' 10"
C- Vucevic

That's some good size there.

lol, I see what you did there.

[madvillian]

Contender next year?

C: Drummond
PF: Buzelis
SF: Giddey
SG: Zach
PG: Coby

For Flagg?

[ChiefILL53]

I thought Phillips was a 3/2? He's a 4?

[coldfish]

PG - Giddey 6' 8"
SG - White 6' 5"
SF - Flagg 6' 9"
PF - Buzelis 6' 10"
C- Vucevic

That's some good size there.

AKME is getting back to the team he wanted. Big, switchable perimeter players from 1-4.

[DuckIII]

Watch on YouTube

Great pick. Might be the best move of the AKME era. A 3rd year player but has some serious potential. He is athletic and aggressive and has some dog in him.

Love this mixtape. 6'10 and he handles the ball really well. Change of direction, advanced dribble moves, movement in tight spaces. Really need to improve that shot but his feel has me excited.

I completely agree with both of you. I'm ecstatic with this pick. I didn't even talk about guys like Matas in the predraft threads because it never occurred to me they would be available and I wasn't keen on moving up for anyone (except maybe Castle or Sarr). Him falling to us and AK actually taking him is beyond the best case scenario in my mind, because it was not even a scenario I bothered to really consider.

And here's maybe the most exciting thing: Whether he works out or not in the long run, he's exactly the TYPE of player we should have drafted this year. And AK realized that and took advantage of his good fortune and took yet another step towards showing he can imagine a logical and cohesive modern NBA roster.

I hate AK. But he's been on fire the last 5 days or so.

[madvillian]

I thought Phillips was a 3/2? He's a 4?

I say this with all due respect to both guys, and as a compliment to both: Phillips is a homeless man's version of Greene. They are both strictly, and I do mean strictly, 4s.