{"id":107157,"date":"2025-10-04T07:46:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=107157"},"modified":"2025-10-04T07:46:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:46:06","slug":"%f0%9f%92%b8-chi-town-boost-bulls-rookie-matas-buzelis-gets-a-5-72-million-contract-update-signaling-chicagos-growing-faith-in-their-young-forward-and-raising-the-question-every","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=107157","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udcb8 CHI-TOWN BOOST: Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis gets a $5.72 million contract update \u2014 signaling Chicago\u2019s growing faith in their young forward, and raising the question every fan\u2019s asking\u2026 is this the start of a new Bulls era?..ll"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"article-body\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/14005501\/USATSI_24440945-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"How Matas Buzelis has made the Chicago Bulls believers: 'He has tremendous  upside' - The Athletic\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Bulls clearly like what Matas Buzelis has provided to the organization early in his NBA career.<\/p>\n<p>They showed that with a key contract decision on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls have exercised the third-year team option in Buzelis&#8217; contract, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>That means that Chicago locks in Buzelis to his 2026-27 season salary at $5.72 million.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago will have until November 2026 to decide whether to exercise his fourth-year option (which covers the 2027-28 season).<\/p>\n<p>Buzelis will make $5.46 million this season in the second year of his NBA career.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls took Buzelis 11th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. He made All-Rookie second team thanks to a strong second half.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The athletic 6-foot-10 forward averaged 13.3 points per game over his final 35 games, according to Hoops Rumors. He also showed some upside as a shooter in that stretch, knocking down 37.3% of his 3-pointers.<\/p>\n<p>Buzelis will turn 21 on Oct. 13, so he&#8217;ll play the whole upcoming season at that age.<\/p>\n<p>Given his skillset, length and athleticism, Buzelis is a guy who can be a part of the Bulls&#8217; core for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>It likely wasn&#8217;t much of a question whether to pick up this option, and unless something weird happens, they&#8217;ll surely end up picking up that fourth-year option, too.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Buzelis will focus on improving his game in year two while helping the Bulls be competitive.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chicago likes what it has in its young forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":107158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - 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