Is a rising Chicago Bulls star going to take the proverbial "leap" in the 2025-26 NBA season?
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According to Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report, 20-year-old small forward Matas Buzelis is the rostered Chicago player most likely to rapidly develop this coming season.
Head coach Billy Donovan is hoping the 6-foot-8 Chicago native can improve as a playmaker, although thus far the adjustment has been bumpy. In his two Summer League bouts (more of a courtesy than a necessity, as the All-Rookie Second Teamer is ostensibly good enough to have graduated from Summer League ahead of his sophomore season), Hughes notes that Buzelis averaged 4.0 turnovers to 1.0 dishes a night.
Can Buzelis step up for Chicago?
Following the team's deadline trade of former two-time All-Star swingman Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings, Buzelis, starting point guard Josh Giddey, and starting shooting guard Coby White emerged as the primary beneficiaries of the extra touches.
In his 32 games played after the LaVine deal, Buzelis' output improved to 13.4 points on a .489/.366/.806 slash line, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.6 steals a night.
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All told, Buzelis averaged 8.6 points on .454/.361/.815 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per in his 80 regular season games with Chicago.
The newly re-signed Giddey, at all of 22 years old, surely still has room to grow his game. White, 25, has been the Bulls' best player for the last two seasons — and can still do more with more consistent touches over the course of a full season.
It's possible that any of these three players can evolve into an All-Star, although the odds of that happening this year for the two younger guns feel slim.
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