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

[Ice Man]

It is really strange how many of these players and fans truly think Kobe is GOAT. Maybe some are being cute, but some really believe that. And I get it, and while Kobe was all timer, he was bigger personality than player himself, but in my opinion, I am not even sure there was a single year where Kobe was best player in the world during his time, let alone all time. We can argue 05 07 those were Kobe years, but I do not think it is definite at all, he coexisted wish Shaq, Duncan and LeBron.

Kobe never led the NBA in any all-around statistic, such as PER, VORP, or Win Shares. (During the years that you mentioned LeBron, Dirk, and Garnett shared the leadership of those statistics.) Kobe-stans can say hey, those are stupid stats, but since Mike and LeBron dominated those stupid stats year after year after year, that's a pretty weak argument. If those statistics are so useless, why did Mike and LeBron crush them?

The argument for Kobe is based on ring counting, flash, and personality. I mean, of course he was a great player, but when ranking the all-time greats those are the factors that push him up.

[DuckIII]

I think AK just got lucky he fell to him....glad he did.

We need some additional beef up front still....see how he accomplishes that

Well he admitted flat out he never expected Matas to drop to 11. But while I generally consider AK's past two years to be utterly atrocious, at least he was smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth. It's a low bar, but at least he wasn't dumb enough to pass on Buzelis himself.

Here's hoping it's another MPJ-type situation. Denver did well capitalizing on the big fall and taking Porter with the 14th pick. I think it's undeniable that Buzelis is fantastic value in THAT range (10-14). Low-to-medium risk, high reward gamble.

To put my view of Matas as a prospect into a more broad context, I consider him a significantly better prospect than MPJ. Less safe due to the contrast in shooting, but much higher potential.

[UcanUwill]

It is really strange how many of these players and fans truly think Kobe is GOAT. Maybe some are being cute, but some really believe that. And I get it, and while Kobe was all timer, he was bigger personality than player himself, but in my opinion, I am not even sure there was a single year where Kobe was best player in the world during his time, let alone all time. We can argue 05 07 those were Kobe years, but I do not think it is definite at all, he coexisted wish Shaq, Duncan and LeBron.

Kobe never led the NBA in any all-around statistic, such as PER, VORP, or Win Shares. (During the years that you mentioned LeBron, Dirk, and Garnett shared the leadership of those statistics.) Kobe-stans can say hey, those are stupid stats, but since Mike and LeBron dominated those stupid stats year after year after year, that's a pretty weak argument. If those statistics are so useless, why did Mike and LeBron crush them?

The argument for Kobe is based on ring counting, flash, and personality. I mean, of course he was a great player, but when ranking the all-time greats those are the factors that push him up.

I do think Kobe had one of the greatest careers, and maybe thats the main factor, but I don't know, as a player, talking his ability and level of play, he is great, he is arguably top 10 all time, but he just isn't in GOAT conversations.

We often talk about what ifs and which players were unlucky and all that, Bill Simmons has that exercise, saying, what if we simulate this guys career 10/20 times, is the career we actually got better than most would be, or not? And obviously, all of that is just BS, what matters is what happened, but man Kobe really got lucky with his career, even for man himself it would be hard to replicate it again.

[Jcool0]

It is really strange how many of these players and fans truly think Kobe is GOAT. Maybe some are being cute, but some really believe that. And I get it, and while Kobe was all timer, he was bigger personality than player himself, but in my opinion, I am not even sure there was a single year where Kobe was best player in the world during his time, let alone all time. We can argue 05 07 those were Kobe years, but I do not think it is definite at all, he coexisted wish Shaq, Duncan and LeBron.

Kobe never led the NBA in any all-around statistic, such as PER, VORP, or Win Shares. (During the years that you mentioned LeBron, Dirk, and Garnett shared the leadership of those statistics.) Kobe-stans can say hey, those are stupid stats, but since Mike and LeBron dominated those stupid stats year after year after year, that's a pretty weak argument. If those statistics are so useless, why did Mike and LeBron crush them?

The argument for Kobe is based on ring counting, flash, and personality. I mean, of course he was a great player, but when ranking the all-time greats those are the factors that push him up.

I think Kobe had settled in that range just outside of the top 10 all time and when he died that's when people came out to call him the goat. Happens all the time in sports/entertainment. I do wonder what his legacy would be if Memphis didn't gift LA Pau Gasol. Probably more Pippen then Jordan.

[Clint Eastwood]

I really like AK's last two moves buy my gosh he comes off as a goof. Mentioning Giddey's 11 career triple doubles when talking about his upside makes him sound like a high schooler. He says zero interesting things about his philosophy in team building and it sounds like he's totally winging it. I hope things work out but I really want him fired and replaced with competent leadership ASAP.

I think he comes across as an A-hole.

He also comes across as stupid. Read his whole statement from a piece of paper looking down the whole time. How does this person get a front office job?

I do like his offseason thus far, but he didn’t even expect to draft Matas, he fell to him. Who knows what bust he had planned on drafting. If this was his guy, and he didn’t expect him to be there at all like most of us, why didn’t he move up for him? If Matas becomes a star, I am on record as not going to give Arturas credit for selecting him.

[Jcool0]

Well he admitted flat out he never expected Matas to drop to 11. But while I generally consider AK's past two years to be utterly atrocious, at least he was smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth. It's a low bar, but at least he wasn't dumb enough to pass on Buzelis himself.

Here's hoping it's another MPJ-type situation. Denver did well capitalizing on the big fall and taking Porter with the 14th pick. I think it's undeniable that Buzelis is fantastic value in THAT range (10-14). Low-to-medium risk, high reward gamble.

To put my view of Matas as a prospect into a more broad context, I consider him a significantly better prospect than MPJ. Less safe due to the contrast in shooting, but much higher potential.

There was a good chance MPJ goes #1 if not for the injury concerns. Matas dropped because of his on the court play. Kind of a different situation.

[1985Bear]

Welcome back everybody! After a year on the Real GM Bulls Board only yapping about the Bears and their QBs, I almost forgot that there is NBA basketball in Chicago.

Couldn’t be more true that middle of the road is the worse spot in sports. Bulls should be way worse next year and I will watch 10 times more to see Giddy Matas Coby Pat.

After watching M Buzz highlights, I love the pick. ( and because Duck 3 likes it!). Last few minutes of mB highlights showed a good amount of defensive / blocks. Am I crazy or was he manning the paint at the Center position? Can he play some modern C?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BigUps]

I really like AK's last two moves buy my gosh he comes off as a goof. Mentioning Giddey's 11 career triple doubles when talking about his upside makes him sound like a high schooler. He says zero interesting things about his philosophy in team building and it sounds like he's totally winging it. I hope things work out but I really want him fired and replaced with competent leadership ASAP.

I think he comes across as an A-hole.

He also comes across as stupid. Read his whole statement from a piece of paper looking down the whole time. How does this person get a front office job?

I do like his offseason thus far, but he didn’t even expect to draft Matas, he fell to him. Who knows what bust he had planned on drafting. If this was his guy, and he didn’t expect him to be there at all like most of us, why didn’t he move up for him? If Matas becomes a star, I am on record as not going to give Arturas credit for selecting him.

AK does press conferences because he has to. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, but he doesn't like talking to the press and runs an incredibly tight-lipped organization. Generally, I love this. I get he comes off like a goof and an A-Hole, but I think this is good for an organization. We don't like it as fans, because we thirst for more information, but that's not always good for a franchise.

What I don't like about AK has more to do with his moves. I can compartmentalize the two. I like that he says very little and kind of moves around in the shadows, but the moves, well.....they haven't been that good. Lets see what he does here over the next couple of weeks.

Actions always speak louder than words, or in AK's position, a lack of words.

[DuckIII]

I do like his offseason thus far, but he didn’t even expect to draft Matas, he fell to him. Who knows what bust he had planned on drafting. If this was his guy, and he didn’t expect him to be there at all like most of us, why didn’t he move up for him? If Matas becomes a star, I am on record as not going to give Arturas credit for selecting him.

1. Liking a guy and liking a guy so much you are willing to give up extra assets to go get him are two different things.

2. Every player that every GM has ever drafted from pick 2 through the end of the draft is contingent on who the GMs ahead of them do or do not take. The GM on the clock still needs to make the right pick among many options and frequently doesn’t. Refusing to credit the pick simply because the player was available means no one gets credit for anything except overall firsts.

[DuckIII]

Here's hoping it's another MPJ-type situation. Denver did well capitalizing on the big fall and taking Porter with the 14th pick. I think it's undeniable that Buzelis is fantastic value in THAT range (10-14). Low-to-medium risk, high reward gamble.

To put my view of Matas as a prospect into a more broad context, I consider him a significantly better prospect than MPJ. Less safe due to the contrast in shooting, but much higher potential.

There was a good chance MPJ goes #1 if not for the injury concerns. Matas dropped because of his on the court play. Kind of a different situation.

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

[Jcool0]

To put my view of Matas as a prospect into a more broad context, I consider him a significantly better prospect than MPJ. Less safe due to the contrast in shooting, but much higher potential.

There was a good chance MPJ goes #1 if not for the injury concerns. Matas dropped because of his on the court play. Kind of a different situation.

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to turn out to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

He ended up being a 3rd option on a title winning team.

[DuckIII]

There was a good chance MPJ goes #1 if not for the injury concerns. Matas dropped because of his on the court play. Kind of a different situation.

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to turn out to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

He ended up being a 3rd option on a title winning team.

Yes, as a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter. Landing with the best basketball player on earth worked out well for his limited skill set.

And as I said, I had him as a top ten pick. Not some bum.

[dougthonus]

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to turn out to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

If you could ignore contract, health, off court issues, Porter Jr would probably be ~6th-12th best player in the draft class?

Clearly behind: Luka, Shai, Brunson, Mikal, Trae

Then I think you could have a debate:
Ayton, JJJ, MPJ, DeVincenzo, Miles Bridges, maybe argue a couple other guys

[KissedByaRose1]

I really like AK's last two moves buy my gosh he comes off as a goof. Mentioning Giddey's 11 career triple doubles when talking about his upside makes him sound like a high schooler. He says zero interesting things about his philosophy in team building and it sounds like he's totally winging it. I hope things work out but I really want him fired and replaced with competent leadership ASAP.

I think he comes across as an A-hole.

He also comes across as stupid. Read his whole statement from a piece of paper looking down the whole time. How does this person get a front office job?

I do like his offseason thus far, but he didn’t even expect to draft Matas, he fell to him. Who knows what bust he had planned on drafting. If this was his guy, and he didn’t expect him to be there at all like most of us, why didn’t he move up for him? If Matas becomes a star, I am on record as not going to give Arturas credit for selecting him.

AK does press conferences because he has to. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, but he doesn't like talking to the press and runs an incredibly tight-lipped organization. Generally, I love this. I get he comes off like a goof and an A-Hole, but I think this is good for an organization. We don't like it as fans, because we thirst for more information, but that's not always good for a franchise.

What I don't like about AK has more to do with his moves. I can compartmentalize the two. I like that he says very little and kind of moves around in the shadows, but the moves, well.....they haven't been that good. Lets see what he does here over the next couple of weeks.

Actions always speak louder than words, or in AK's position, a lack of words.

His actions have all been terrible though. If he was a tactical mastermind and we were in a good position as an organization i would have zero issue with him never talking. But we're in a worse position than we were when he took over and no one has any idea what the plan is because i suspect there isn't one. That presser last night made us seem like we have zero direction and the future of the team is totally random. Doesn't inspire any confidence and besides kinda hitting on Ayo he's been a crappy drafter also which was supposed to be his forte coming from Denver. It's a bottom 5 GM situation in the league anyway you slice it and i'm over it.

[Jcool0]

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to turn out to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

If you could ignore contract, health, off court issues, Porter Jr would probably be ~6th-12th best player in the draft class?

Clearly behind: Luka, Shai, Brunson, Mikal, Trae

Then I think you could have a debate:
Ayton, JJJ, MPJ, DeVincenzo, Miles Bridges, maybe argue a couple other guys

Putting Mikal is that top group is a stretch.

[League Circles]

Yes, MPJ’s injury status saved a lot of teams from severely overdrafting him. And has nothing to do with my evaluation of him as a prospect. I barely had him as a top 10 prospect that year precisely because he projected to turn out to be exactly what he is: a stiff but very tall high quality one way role playing shooter.

If you could ignore contract, health, off court issues, Porter Jr would probably be ~6th-12th best player in the draft class?

Clearly behind: Luka, Shai, Brunson, Mikal, Trae

Then I think you could have a debate:
Ayton, JJJ, MPJ, DeVincenzo, Miles Bridges, maybe argue a couple other guys

Almost everyone you listed is better than Trae easily.

[drosestruts]

Posted several Ben Pfiefer videos throughout the leadup to the draft. He graded the Buzelis pick as an A for the Bulls and added these thoughts:

In a poetic turn of events, the Chicago kid fell all the way to his hometown Bulls outside of the top 10. That's quite the slide for Buzelis, who many (myself included) view as a mid-lottery or better-level talent in this draft due to his slashing and from protection upside. His questionable jumper looms large on a shooting-challenged Bulls team, but this pick is a step in the correct direction

link - https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/2024-nba-draft-grades-lakers-get-a-milwaukee-get-f?=skredd

His shooting and his ability to add some strength seems like the biggest variables in Buzelis becoming a very good player.

At 19 I don't worry too much about his ability to add size/strength, so I guess a lot of his swing will come down to the shooting numbers.

[ChiTownHero1992]

The real question in all of this is does Stacey King bring back the "Buz Cruise" when Matas scores?!?!

[Jvaughn]

Posted several Ben Pfiefer videos throughout the leadup to the draft. He graded the Buzelis pick as an A for the Bulls and added these thoughts:

In a poetic turn of events, the Chicago kid fell all the way to his hometown Bulls outside of the top 10. That's quite the slide for Buzelis, who many (myself included) view as a mid-lottery or better-level talent in this draft due to his slashing and from protection upside. His questionable jumper looms large on a shooting-challenged Bulls team, but this pick is a step in the correct direction

link - https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/2024-nba-draft-grades-lakers-get-a-milwaukee-get-f?=skredd

His shooting and his ability to add some strength seems like the biggest variables in Buzelis becoming a very good player.

At 19 I don't worry too much about his ability to add size/strength, so I guess a lot of his swing will come down to the shooting numbers.

I'm probably in a company of one in this thinking, but I'm not worried in the least bit about Matas shooting. In fact I'd be shocked if he's below 35% from 3 in his rookie year.

[DuckIII]

The real question in all of this is does Stacey King bring back the "Buz Cruise" when Matas scores?!?!

I'm betting he goes the Thabo route, just saying the name with a theatrical emphasis that can't decide if its trying to sound sexy or intimidating. Mataaas Buzeliiiiisssssss!!!! Don't show it all to'em Matas!!!!!

Which will be lame. But I love Stacey anyway.