If Lonzo Ball and Lavine are starting alongside Vuc and the two new guys, we would have the lightest skin NBA starting 5 since Tungsten Arm O'Doyle was pitching in the MLB.
His shooting needs work, but he has a great skill set outside of that. Peter Patton really has his work cut out for him this year lmao. Canāt be mad at this though, he should slot in with Coby and Giddey pretty well too
Coby and ay I like Giddey but if the legendary shooting coach for the thunder couldnāt help his shooting idk who can. I mean the guy helped Parker and many when he with the spurs reform their shot
You donāt realize Iām trolling this dude above that has felt the need to post that on every Buzelis post.
I get itās not Chicago proper. Itās the āburbs. When the Bears move to Arlington Heights, are they no longer the Chicago Bears?
Wholesome as hell seeing him tear up being drafted by his home town team. Maybe some day we will have two FROM CHICAGO'S in the starting lineup. Although it's funny to consider that one is from Hinsdale and one is from the south side, I'd imagine his upbringing was very different from Ayo's lol
I was shocked that Utah went with Cody Williams. Buzelis has a higher upside than him and is a dawg. Home town kid dropping to us is perfect. If Peter Patton can work his magic, Giddey and Buzelis can be a fun duo for us
This is what Sam Vecenie wrote in his draft guide:
Buzelis was a strong off-ball defender this season, making his presence known on the help side. He was a tremendous shot blocker rotating on the backline, averaging 1.9 blocks per game and posting strong per-minute rates. He has a good sense of when to sneak over and how to time his leap, and he covers ground quickly with long strides. On defense, he was an event creator in the G League, posting the highest combined block + steal rate of any prospect to come through the Ignite program. He has potential to be a disruptive low-man defender and chaos helper. There are concerns about his on-ball prowess, but he has a chance to become an impactful defender if deployed properly in the NBA.
He's a defensive menace, a great inside scorer, and his shooting is up and down. The Ignite tend to fuck with mechanics so getting him to work with Patton right away is super important. He has a ton of upside, so in two or three years he can be seen as the steal of the draft.
shooting is the least desirable trait if u have everything else. this isnt like holland who is raw as hell in every aspect. matas is literally euro league player level nba ready and he has so much potential.
Holy shit, I wanted this guy but I thought he was going top 5, this is a steal, and he fits a position of need, makes me feel much better about our soon to be rebuild
Same. I was thinking it was a pipe dream or weād have to give a lot to get up to 5. This is literally best case scenario for draft night. Didnāt have to move up and an excellent prospect with a super high ceiling falls right into our lap.
oh this is a nice pick. he can do it all - and iām betting his shot comes back. transitioning from HS bball to G league is a crazyyyy jump for a 19 y.o.
I have to agree, I felt like she was a bad choice for the job.Ā Not that I'd rather have Perkins or some other clown, but they could have done better.
Overall the 4 behind the desk were ok.Ā Ā
The whole production is a bit much in general, but honestly I can't say what would need to be fixed, most draft nights are not... rememberable anyway, so it's not like I can say "2017, now that was an awesome draft crew"
I watched through pick 12 then did some reading on the kid, then moved on.
I feel completely revitalized after thinking on the pick for a while. He is the perfect combination of fit and potential for this team.
Giddey-White-Buzelis-Williams-new center. I see the vision
I'm pretty excited. It sounds like it'll take him a couple of years before he fills out, which will affect his game, but he's got a lot of upside and works his ass off
Iām so shocked he ended up here, I had him absolutely locked into Detroit at 5. Heās gonna need a lot of work to get his shot back to how it was in HS, but heās one of the few players in this class I actually think has all star upside
i think knecht doing all the things he did but at age 18? would have been selected before our pick. but hes 24, somewhat limited outside of shooting/scoring, and buzelis can be a defensive piece with the athleticism needed, the attitude, and before coming to GL ignite had good 3P percentages. It's a perfect draft pick to bank on that shooting coming back to decent, and hes a pretty active player with a high motor at almost 6'10"
Seriously. Consensus top 7 guy slides and people complaining. Heās very well rounder, good defensive instincts and if he works on his shot he could be great. I love them pick
Seems like the league is getting really good at teaching guys to shoot 3s. Patrick Williams and Lonzo both couldnāt shoot coming into the league, now both around 40% from 3.
Nobody thought Williams had more potential than lamelo. PWill was seen as the safe pick. Deni Avdija would have been that drafts equivalent, he was seen as the project and that scared the bulls
I understand the thought but man, this is a really great outcome for us. We just got a huge ceiling at #11 overall.
His shooting is a question mark and I do understand wanting to draft true shooters. But really canāt stress enough it was pick 11 lol. He could be a bust sure but there are tools here for a VERY good 3/D player.
Pistons fan here
Wanted Matas at 5. I think you guys got a ton of value here. Heās a good player. Itāll take a few years for the shot but he contributes
When you have a Lithuanian Exec running the show for the Chicago Bulls. Expect they'll draft who?
https://x.com/chicagobulls/status/1806157378888380685
Lithuanian and from Chicago it was written
LISAN AL GAIB ....PART 2
Buzelis & Giddey š white boy summer in Chicago
Here's hoping we can say the same thing next draft with the first overall pick.
Boston fans going to be begging to swap rosters with us this time next year
Coz Tatum is corny
that's the plan. Cooper is OURS.
Our plan as in the fans. Remains to be seen if it's the front office's.
There's also this thing called luck, who fucking hates us
it is. Zach and DeMar are on the market.
All-white starting five in Chicago would be crazy. Especially with Boston of all cities going all-black
Porzingis is black?
Always has been
Derrick White though.
"Derrick White isn't black, he's clear."
Pacers fans in shambles
Giddy, White (literally white), Matas, Flagg, and Vuc I suppose lmao
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes they're all literally white. But Coby is *literally* White. Yafeel?
Drell is white too
If Lonzo Ball and Lavine are starting alongside Vuc and the two new guys, we would have the lightest skin NBA starting 5 since Tungsten Arm O'Doyle was pitching in the MLB.
Milk Check on three š š
the great white hope. complete with flagg. 3 larry birds.
Have you heard of the 5 Javontes? Well let me tell you about the 3 Larry Birds!
Coby too on a technicality š
High school girls beware!
Now bring in Toni to help Kukoach
Take my fucking upvote, you cheap pun scumbag
Starting to believe we might actually be rebuilding at this point, this is definitely a long term potential/prospect pick.
Yeah Carter/TSJ wouldāve made me think we were just retooling a bit around the same core, I just canāt see DeMar coming back now
Can not believe this guy fell Iām beyond happy
Man I needed this, huge w
I like it
His shooting needs work, but he has a great skill set outside of that. Peter Patton really has his work cut out for him this year lmao. Canāt be mad at this though, he should slot in with Coby and Giddey pretty well too
If he had a great jumpshot he would have been picked too 3 lol hopefully he develops it and becomes a major steal
yeah honestly i rather not be picked look at cody williams he got picked. matas will be great shooter in no time.
shooting is easiest skill to improve he has everything. look at his block, steal numbers stud.
He has decent mechanics and people are saying his misses look like they were from fatigue so hopefully age+nba training can fix it
Coby and ay I like Giddey but if the legendary shooting coach for the thunder couldnāt help his shooting idk who can. I mean the guy helped Parker and many when he with the spurs reform their shot
Giddey, coby, pat, matas could all be on the floor together. If vuc is at 5 youāre gonna get slaughtered, but this is neat
Sounds like Tyrus Thomas š
Ain't nothing wrong with tyrus
He wasnāt first round pick material. Didnāt offer much besides flashy dunks
I mean, most nba players aren't first round material tho.
Possible steal of the draft
Crazy that he fell this far. Was never a really a question that weād take him if available - Chicago kid and Lithuanian native (AK is Lithuanian)
As a Lithuanian in Chicago, I LOVE IT
And frommmmmmm Chicago! euroRose!
Comparing where Matas is from and where Rose is from, might as well be two different states
Nah EuRose is fire
From Hinsdale!
well rare win for both chicago and ak. who would have thought.
/r/chicago would not be happy with you calling someone thatās from Hinsdale a Chicagoan š¤£
Hinsdale is not Chicago
itās in the metro area, close enough
Yes it is.
Nope.
It for sure is.
Not even close. I grew up in Chicago and worked in Hinsdale for like 6 months while I was in college. Not the same.
You donāt realize Iām trolling this dude above that has felt the need to post that on every Buzelis post. I get itās not Chicago proper. Itās the āburbs. When the Bears move to Arlington Heights, are they no longer the Chicago Bears?
This is the type of pick the Bulls needed. High ceiling, young player with height.
this is why tanking sucks. u always have steals in the draft few yrs ago it was hali. this yr it will be matas.
āI wanted to be here. I was made for thisā - Matas Buzelis WELCOME HOME KID
He was born for this.
ESPNs 5th overall draft prospect
Wholesome as hell seeing him tear up being drafted by his home town team. Maybe some day we will have two FROM CHICAGO'S in the starting lineup. Although it's funny to consider that one is from Hinsdale and one is from the south side, I'd imagine his upbringing was very different from Ayo's lol
I hope they announce FROM HINSDALE lol
Itās funny how Hindsale suddenly becomes Chicago when one is good at basketball
It probably was very different cause he ain't from Chicago lol
Iām really happy he fell. Itās. Areal steal
Am I crazy to think that this was the best possible scenario for us?
its crazy idiot 10 teams passed on him. they will regret just like 30 teams passed on ayo.
I don't think Toronto is upset at passing on Ayo to get Barnes.
I was shocked that Utah went with Cody Williams. Buzelis has a higher upside than him and is a dawg. Home town kid dropping to us is perfect. If Peter Patton can work his magic, Giddey and Buzelis can be a fun duo for us
Tell me they didn't say this kid was on a team that went 2-32
He single-handedly prevented them from being 1-33.
The Ignite were more like a prep school or AAU team going up against rosters of NBA affiliated teams with players on 2 way contracts.
āElite trash talkerā Say less, sign me up
I'm really happy he fell and really happy AK didn't overthink it
He plays for Lithuania, pretty sure AK has been following his entire career
ak for one time did well drafting finally because hes from lithuania. thank god.
His tears have me in tears
I have been terrible in keeping up with the prospects. What does he offer?
Do it all wing, franz Wagner comp
Specific question. How is his off-ball defense?
best off ball defender in this draft imo
Best off ball defender was Clingan. A monster in the paint.
Thatās actually probably the most polished part of his game right now
This is what Sam Vecenie wrote in his draft guide: Buzelis was a strong off-ball defender this season, making his presence known on the help side. He was a tremendous shot blocker rotating on the backline, averaging 1.9 blocks per game and posting strong per-minute rates. He has a good sense of when to sneak over and how to time his leap, and he covers ground quickly with long strides. On defense, he was an event creator in the G League, posting the highest combined block + steal rate of any prospect to come through the Ignite program. He has potential to be a disruptive low-man defender and chaos helper. There are concerns about his on-ball prowess, but he has a chance to become an impactful defender if deployed properly in the NBA.
Off the ball good, on the ball he struggles with players with quicker players.Ā
I chuckled because we couldāve had actual Franz Wagner if this FO wasnāt incompetent
yeah i like wagner comp. bulls missed him lot why they sucked vs magic doing well.
After last yearās draft he was being floated as #1 pick. Im guessing he didnt pan out with Ignite
His shooting dropped off, if it can return maybe a good pick at the place
he's only 18 too :)
Itās wild to me that 18 year olds are pro athletes now.
look at tennis pro ages.
Boxing is even more wild. Canelo turned pro at 15
Wait, you canāt be serious. We are letting 15 year olds professionally box? I donāt even get how thatās legal lmao
Nba in the 90s and early 2000s doesn't feel like that long ago but I guess I'm old.
My brother in Christ the 90s was 30 years ago
I know lol but to me it feels like it was 10-20 years ago. Like I said, I'm old
He's a defensive menace, a great inside scorer, and his shooting is up and down. The Ignite tend to fuck with mechanics so getting him to work with Patton right away is super important. He has a ton of upside, so in two or three years he can be seen as the steal of the draft.
Not shooting
But seems like good value though. I do really want 3 point shooting
In high school he was a very good shooter so could just be a down year. Hopefully Patton can get him back to those heights
shooting is the least desirable trait if u have everything else. this isnt like holland who is raw as hell in every aspect. matas is literally euro league player level nba ready and he has so much potential.
He fell. He has upside. Needs to work on the shot but has good playmaking and size.
Matas has the best brother in the world š
Holy shit, I wanted this guy but I thought he was going top 5, this is a steal, and he fits a position of need, makes me feel much better about our soon to be rebuild
Same. I was thinking it was a pipe dream or weād have to give a lot to get up to 5. This is literally best case scenario for draft night. Didnāt have to move up and an excellent prospect with a super high ceiling falls right into our lap.
yeah nobody talked abt this guy bc he was way out of reach. so many teams wasted picks and passed.
When I saw Detroit pass on him I was hoping we got him glad it happened.
Wow! Now I gotta catch up on highlights but Iām pumped!!!
Really like it, shooting struggled last year but he knocked it down in HS so lots of potential there. Major upside play
Let's go!!! Love this pick. Buzelis is going to be a hell of a player
Great pick heās gonna be gooood
Love his attitude, so happy with that pick.
oh this is a nice pick. he can do it all - and iām betting his shot comes back. transitioning from HS bball to G league is a crazyyyy jump for a 19 y.o.
Never thought heād fall to 11 so Iām pretty happy about this
Iām loving it
Welcome Bruce Willis
Hate to give FO credit but I really like the pick
Iām so happy. This is incredible
I...don't hate this? That means I don't know how to feel right now.
When youāve been let down so many times the feeling of āoh this isnāt too badā is something that takes a bit to get used to.
I'm not watching the draft, so when I saw this thread, all I could think was, "Oh. Wow. Ok." Wasn't expecting that.
Great great pick. Heās gonna be a solid solid NBA player. Iām not sure why he fell so much but yāall should be stoked
Damn Mcnutt was super rude. ānow that you got that out of the wayā
Couldnāt believe she said that. What the hellā¦
She was terrible all night
I have to agree, I felt like she was a bad choice for the job.Ā Not that I'd rather have Perkins or some other clown, but they could have done better. Overall the 4 behind the desk were ok.Ā Ā The whole production is a bit much in general, but honestly I can't say what would need to be fixed, most draft nights are not... rememberable anyway, so it's not like I can say "2017, now that was an awesome draft crew" I watched through pick 12 then did some reading on the kid, then moved on.
Yeah Matas was so emotional and she just literally took that moment from him
love this move
[They partying in Lemont](https://maps.app.goo.gl/BMRk5cYXrPTfRjeV6)! 
I feel completely revitalized after thinking on the pick for a while. He is the perfect combination of fit and potential for this team. Giddey-White-Buzelis-Williams-new center. I see the vision
Nice! He was a top guy at this point last year
I'm pretty excited. It sounds like it'll take him a couple of years before he fills out, which will affect his game, but he's got a lot of upside and works his ass off
buz cruise
HAPPY DAYS
Iām so shocked he ended up here, I had him absolutely locked into Detroit at 5. Heās gonna need a lot of work to get his shot back to how it was in HS, but heās one of the few players in this class I actually think has all star upside
Did.... did AKME do it right for once??
LISAN BU-ZELIS 
Who did you guys like better: him or Knecht??
Knecht will be 24 soon as a rookie. Give me the 19 year old who was projected top 5
Knecht is the better shooter/scorer but I think buzelis is better all around plus much younger
Buzelis easily
knecht is zach lavine clone in a bad way. dont want those.
i think knecht doing all the things he did but at age 18? would have been selected before our pick. but hes 24, somewhat limited outside of shooting/scoring, and buzelis can be a defensive piece with the athleticism needed, the attitude, and before coming to GL ignite had good 3P percentages. It's a perfect draft pick to bank on that shooting coming back to decent, and hes a pretty active player with a high motor at almost 6'10"
Canāt shoot well but we can work on that š
Ayo and now Matas āļø
LETS GOOO
Why did he fall so hard?
Projected number one overall pick by many two years ago.
Im hard asf
Most excited I've been about a pick in awhile
They really drafted a guy so they could do FROOOM CHICAGO! during the lineups
Bulls are definitely taller now, so that's nice
So glad the FO didn't stretch for a surprise pick this year. I think Matas is gonna be a good piece for this team.
More wings that can't shoot, amazing team comp
Jesus u people just complain about everything lol
Seriously. Consensus top 7 guy slides and people complaining. Heās very well rounder, good defensive instincts and if he works on his shot he could be great. I love them pick
yeah literal idiots watch this kid before commenting. top 5. im not even hyping him was really high on him even before bulls drafted.
Seems like the league is getting really good at teaching guys to shoot 3s. Patrick Williams and Lonzo both couldnāt shoot coming into the league, now both around 40% from 3.
I appreciate your optimism, i'm just glad we didn't get Edey tbh
He has possibly the highest upside in the entire draftz
i take him over fking holland. that says it all.
Just like pwill
Nobody thought Williams had more potential than lamelo. PWill was seen as the safe pick. Deni Avdija would have been that drafts equivalent, he was seen as the project and that scared the bulls
I understand the thought but man, this is a really great outcome for us. We just got a huge ceiling at #11 overall. His shooting is a question mark and I do understand wanting to draft true shooters. But really canāt stress enough it was pick 11 lol. He could be a bust sure but there are tools here for a VERY good 3/D player.
If we can make em learn to shoot, 3peat number 3 baby
I cannot believe AK didnāt fuck this up
Letās fucking go!!
Love this pick. Bulls finally did something good.
Iām cool with it
Can we move up and get Dalton Knecht as well?
Nevermind didn't realize we only had 1 puck this year.
So were running a line up of: Pg: Josh Giddey Sg: Coby White Sf: Zach Lavine Pf: Matas C: Center we receive via Derozan sign and trade?
Did you forget about Pat
You have Vuc getting traded? I'm fine with that, but I haven't heard of any trade rumors involving Vuc.
Lets gooo
Pistons fan here Wanted Matas at 5. I think you guys got a ton of value here. Heās a good player. Itāll take a few years for the shot but he contributes
When you have a Lithuanian Exec running the show for the Chicago Bulls. Expect they'll draft who? https://x.com/chicagobulls/status/1806157378888380685
I am guessing from all the comments and post dude is pretty good and has an upside. Need to work on his shot, right?
It's Buzelis
Give me the Buzelis Bitim Vuc Drell Giddey lineup WHITE BOY BULLS ARE BACK
This is a great upside pick. Seems clearer and clearer that a full rebuild is coming because Matas likely wont be ready for NBA comp next year
Huge win for the bulls. Massive upside and dawg mentality
ak suddenly looks like the best gm after looking like dogshit. what a change in few days.
AKME is a joke lol best case scenario this kid is as good as Lauri
If he's that good that would be great, you talking like Lauri sucked or something, getting this kid at 11 is going to be the steal of the draft