The Chicago Bulls didn't exactly please their fans with the way they have conducted their offseason to this point. Their reluctance in selling their veterans at peak value cost them dearly, with the Bulls trading away Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey straight up while losing DeMar DeRozan for two second-round picks in a sign-and-trade. The good news, thankfully for Bulls fans, is that Chicago didn't just draft Matas Buzelis for the hometown factor, they also drafted him for his tantalizing potential.

Buzelis, despite the Bulls' 92-82 Summer League defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, showed why Chicago drafted him with the 11th overall pick; in fact, he even made a strong argument as to why he should have been drafted earlier than that. In 34 minutes of play, the 19-year old forward put up 28 points on 10-22 shooting from the field, with his most stunning bucket being an epic poster over Daeqwon Plowden.

 

One of Matas Buzelis' strong points as a prospect is his strong ability to get to the hoop. He has some solid handles and quick burst and evidently, he can get off his feet quickly as well. Buzelis looks like a walking mismatch problem on the wing, and he has all the tools to be a good scorer in the best basketball league in the world.

Given Buzelis' supreme confidence in himself, there is no telling just how far his stock can soar. The Bulls sorely needed a win after some asset mismanagement in recent seasons, and they seem to have gotten one in the 11th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Matas Buzelis shows out for the Bulls in Summer League

Matas Buzelis' athleticism may have been the part of his game that stole the show, as seen in his incredible poster dunk against the Warriors. His activity off the ball is also promising, as playing alongside Josh Giddey and Coby White would mean that Buzelis will have plenty of possessions where he won't be handling the ball.

However, one of Buzelis' major red flags as a prospect is his lack of outside shooting. In his lone season at G-League Ignite, the 6'10 forward fired blanks from beyond the arc. He made just 30 of his 115 attempts from deep in 32 games this past season, which was good for a ghastly 26.8 percent. This does not even come close to the kind of percentage that warrants respect from opposing defenses.

But on Sunday night, Buzelis looked like a much-different player for the Bulls. He was shooting the ball off the catch with ease, and with a fluid and confident release as well. He made four of his eight three-point attempts on the night, and if he could at least be league-average from three in his rookie season, then it would impact the Bulls so much.

Matas Buzelis has drawn plenty of comparisons to another oversized wing player in Franz Wagner; Wagner shot poorly from three this past season (28.1 percent) and yet he still nearly scored 20 points per game (19.7). Now, Buzelis has a long way to go before he matches Wagner's skill on the ball as well as his craftiness around the hoop. But imagine just how much the floor would open up for Buzelis' driving game if his three-point game comes around.

At present, Buzelis might be coming off the bench to start the season for the Bulls, with Zach LaVine and Josh Giddey on the wing spots, Coby White at point guard, and the returning Patrick Williams lining up alongside Nikola Vucevic at the five. But Buzelis should make a strong case to seize a huge role off the bat with games like these.