{"id":63362,"date":"2025-05-22T07:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=63362"},"modified":"2025-05-22T07:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:45:15","slug":"matas-buzelis-tremendous-rookie-season-capped-off-by-exclusive-distinction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=63362","title":{"rendered":"Matas Buzelis&#8217; tremendous rookie season capped off by exclusive distinction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/875199a\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4733x3155+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F7f%2F41%2Fa3fc14e24766a5c327052b689108%2F2196307515.jpg\" alt=\"Bulls' Matas Buzelis is stepping up the energy and earning the minutes -  Chicago Sun-Times\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Matas Buzelis is an NBA All-Rookie Team selection. On May 20, the NBA announced the 20-year-old forward as a member of the All-Rookie Second Team\u2014a tremendous achievement for Buzelis after not earning a solidified spot in the Chicago Bulls&#8217; rotation until late January.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-2\">Buzelis earns a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\">The 11th overall pick averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 blocks, and 1.2 three-pointers per game. Buzelis appeared in 80 contests, botching 31 starts. The 6-foot-10 forward converted 45.4 percent of his field goals, 36.1 percent of his three-pointers, and 81.5 percent of his free throws.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">Joining Buzelis on the All-Rookie Second Team are Miami Heat center Kel&#8217;el Ware, New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi, Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, and Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\">Besides receiving Rookie of the Year votes and landing on the All-Rookie Second Team, Buzelis competed in the NBA Dunk Contest amid All-Star Weekend. Although Buzelis didn&#8217;t win the event, he was granted an opportunity to showcase his elite athleticism on a national stage as he represented the Bulls in the Dunk Contest for the first time in nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\">Following Buzelis&#8217; placement on the All-Rookie Second Team, Chicago has now seen four of its players be anointed an All-Rookie Second Teamer this decade. Coby White was selected to the second team in 2020, Patrick Williams in 2021, and Ayo Dosunmu in 2022.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">Unlike top 10 draft picks White and Williams, Buzelis&#8217; strong second-half surge, similar to Dosunmu&#8217;s, landed him on the All-Rookie Second Team. Buzelis averaged less than 7.0 points per game in October, November, December, and January.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">The 20-year-old turned it up a notch in February, averaging 12.8 points and ultimately assuming the starting forward role. Buzelis&#8217; upped his points per game average to 13.7 in March, before totaling 13.4 points in April. The 11th overall pick&#8217;s plus\/minus improved mightily from February onward. In his first month as a starter, Buzelis was a minus-11.6. He finished his rookie campaign as a plus-10.4 in April.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\">Although Buzelis&#8217; progression was far from linear, his spot on the All-Rookie Second Team is a testament to his attitude, demeanor, and work ethic. No matter his spot in Donovan&#8217;s rotation, the 20-year-old remained ready and made the most of his chances. He continued to improve and actively sought direction and constructive criticism amid his inaugural campaign.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\">Chicago&#8217;s decision to use its 11th overall pick on Buzelis, who flashed awe-inspiring potential, yet struggled with inefficiency suiting up for the now-defunct G-League Ignite team, is now one step closer to being declared one of the better decisions in the undervalued 2024 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chicago Bulls&#8217; rookie sensation Matas Buzelis earned an All-Rookie Second Team selection after a strong finish to his inaugural campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":63364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63362","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 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matas Buzelis&#039; 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