The Bulls don’t have to hand Matas Buzelis a new deal tomorrow, but they probably should start circling the calendar now.
Chicago’s front office has a crowded plate with training camp about a week away and a reshaped organization trying to sort out what it actually is. The next few months are about building a direction for the rebuild and laying down a new identity, while Tiago Splitter works to establish a standard on the floor. The Bulls also still have to figure out what style best serves their young talent, with No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson sitting at the center of that conversation.
That makes Buzelis one of the biggest names on the internal checklist. He may not force an immediate decision, but the Bulls would be wise to figure out where he fits before the situation gets complicated. The early signs point to him as a core piece alongside Wilson, though a franchise going through this much change can always shift course.
Buzelis becomes eligible for a rookie-scale extension after this season, and Bryson Graham could wait until the following summer. That approach would come with risk, since other teams could come after Buzelis in restricted free agency. Graham may be patient enough to take that route, but Buzelis has already played like a player trending toward an early extension.
The market this summer has only sharpened the picture. A few athletic young wings have already landed new money, and those deals give the Bulls a useful reference point before negotiations begin.
Amen Thompson got a five-year, $208 million deal from the Houston Rockets. His brother, Ausar Thompson, followed with a five-year, $155 million contract from the Detroit Pistons. Peyton Watson also got paid, landing $88.0 million over four seasons in a sign-and-trade between the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers.
That trio may end up setting the range for Buzelis. The Watson deal could be the low end, especially since he had to sign it through restricted free agency.
If Buzelis keeps improving, he should clear that number. Josh Giddey is making $25 million per year right now, and the Bulls are surely hoping Buzelis eventually moves ahead of him in the team’s pecking order.
Amen’s contract is probably too rich for Buzelis, at least at this stage, but it still says plenty about what teams will pay for a dynamic two-way wing. Amen has been better early in his career, especially defensively, and he already owns an All-Defensive First Team nod. Even so, Buzelis belongs in that class of explosive athletic wings.
Ausar’s deal may be the cleanest comparison. He also has an All-Defensive First Team honor, and the Pistons were the East’s No. 1 team in 2025-26, with Ausar proving he could be a key part of a winning group.
Buzelis hasn’t reached that level yet, and won’t before talks begin, but the contract itself is a useful benchmark. It tracks closely with the kind of extension Jalen Johnson signed with the Hawks a couple of years ago, and it also sits near the Keegan Murray deal with the Kings, though that one has not aged well.
If Buzelis takes another step this season, Chicago may have to get comfortable with that kind of money on the books. The encouraging part for the Bulls is that they appear positioned to make it work.
That flexibility likely wasn’t an accident, either. When a team is building around young talent, it has to be ready to pay the young talent.
Of course, none of this becomes real until Buzelis proves it over the coming season. He still has to deliver a strong year, and he has to show he fits cleanly next to Wilson.
Until then, the numbers are just numbers. But when extension talks arrive next summer, they won’t be hard to find.
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