The Bulls may have a crowded collection of new faces, but the pairing drawing the most buzz right now is Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson.
Buzelis isn’t hiding how he sees it.
“He’s been incredible,” Buzelis said of Wilson, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times . “Of course he’s got a lot to prove, so do I, and I think that’s what makes us dangerous. We want to prove something.”
That kind of talk fits the early feel around camp, where the two have already gotten time together and against each other in scrimmages. Tiago Splitter still hasn’t revealed a starting lineup, but the idea of Buzelis and Wilson sharing the floor gives Chicago a young, athletic frontcourt look alongside Nic Claxton.
Wilson, the No. 4 pick out of North Carolina, has wasted no time showing his edge. Veteran Jalen Smith said Wilson has already tried a few times to dunk over him in camp, and Smith suggested one of those attempts ended with a block.
Wilson had a different take. He said Smith was exaggerating and that there was probably a foul. “It will happen,” Wilson said with a smirk.
That’s the kind of rookie energy the Bulls are dealing with. Buzelis clearly likes the way Wilson attacks the rim, but he’s just as impressed by how willing he is to learn. Buzelis thinks the two can become “something special,” even if practice doesn’t come with any easing up.
“We can try and kill each other on the court,” Buzelis said.
Chicago opens preseason Wednesday against the Suns, and now the interesting part is seeing how all that camp competition looks once the two are wearing the same uniform.
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Matas Buzelis opened training camp sounding like a young player who has already felt the difference between a team searching for answers and one trying to build something sturdier. After a season in which Chicago was sorting through change, the second-year forward said the tone around the organization has shifted, with more intensity and a clearer sense of purpose as the Bulls move through an overhaul and into a new phase of the rebuild.
Buzelis also spoke with the patience of someone focused on the long game, stressing that his own approach is to keep improving every day and help wherever he can. For a roster trying to establish itself, that matters as much as any single skill point. The real test now is whether the early signs of order and accountability can hold once the games start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
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Bulls Preseason Opener Already Puts Their Rebuild Under Pressure
The Bulls are barely into preseason, and the mood around the opener against the Suns already feels more about survival than evaluation. Before the first practice even got going, Zach Collins was hurt, while Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis are expected to get the first look in the starting group as Chicago begins sorting through a roster that still has more questions than answers.
Chicago also moved quickly to address its depth, bringing in Jordan Hawkins to fill the last roster spot. The early injuries only sharpen the pressure on a team trying to make its rebuild look like progress, and the next few days will say plenty about how much the Bulls can learn before the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]