{"id":64174,"date":"2025-05-25T08:32:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T08:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=64174"},"modified":"2025-05-25T08:32:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T08:32:22","slug":"bulls-projected-to-take-defensive-savant-in-latest-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=64174","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Projected to Take Defensive \u2018Savant\u2019 in Latest Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-136104\">\n<div id=\"readability-page-1\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2195331711-e1744006176414.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Bulls Projected to Take Defensive \u2018Savant\u2019 in Latest Mock Draft..anhtruc.\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-dom-ready-time=\"840\" data-img-load-time=\"1653\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Photo by Isaiah Vazquez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Colling Murray-Boyles could land with the Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A strong showing in the second half of the season has seen the\u00a0Chicago Bulls\u00a0secure a spot in the play-in tournament. However, that success doesn\u2019t change the fact that the Bulls are still a work in progress.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago is working through a roster retooling phase. That\u2019s why they\u2019ve traded away\u00a0Zach LaVine,\u00a0Alex Caruso, and\u00a0DeMar DeRozan\u00a0over the past 12 months. As a retooling team, the Bulls will undoubtedly be looking to acquire as much high-upside young talent as possible.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent mock draft from\u00a0Yahoo Sports\u2019 Kevin O\u2019Connor,\u00a0Chicago finds itself 10th on the board. O\u2019Connor has the team selecting Collin Murray-Boyles out of South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe\u00a0Nikola Vucevic\u00a0and\u00a0Zach Collins\u00a0era has to end soon when their contracts are off the books in 2026, right? Adding a frontcourt player is needed, so CMB makes a ton of sense,\u201d O\u2019Connor wrote. \u201cAnd Murray-Boyles operates like a defensive savant the way he locks down every position, uses his ninja-quick hands to swipe at the ball, and inhales rebounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Connor continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe offensive fit with Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis could be a little clunky since Murray-Boyles is an unproven shooter, but he\u2019s a bulldozer finisher with a playmaking feel. If he fixes his jumper, there\u2019s All-Star upside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Murray-Boyle has played 32 games for South Carolina this season. He\u2019s averaging 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. He\u2019s shooting 58.6% from the field; however, as O\u2019Connor noted, his 26.5% perimeter shooting must improve.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Bulls are Coaching Matas Buzelis Hard<\/h2>\n<p>Since the All-Star break, rookie\u00a0Matas Buzelis\u00a0has begun to shine for Billy Donovan\u2019s team. The rookie forward is averaging 12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists since play resumed on Feb. 20.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Buzelis\u2019 recent production, there is clearly still plenty of room to grow and develop. According to Donovan, the next step for Buzelis is working on his screen navigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got to be able to navigate through screens better,\u201d\u00a0Donovan said after the Bulls downed the Portland Trail Blazers on April 4.\u00a0\u201cThe one thing about him, when he is on the ball and guys do drive on him, he\u2019s gotten much better at using his length and not fouling \u2014 really rim-protecting, blocking shots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Buzelis, 20, has plenty of time to develop on the defensive end. Screen navigation is often one of the things players learn after a year or two in the NBA (unless they\u2019re a defensive specialist.) As such, there\u2019s plenty of reason to remain high on Buzelis and what he can and does bring to the Bulls\u2019 rotation.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Bulls Focusing on Rebuilding Through Development<\/h2>\n<p>According to Sam Smith of NBA.com, the Bulls won\u2019t be looking for a quick fix via trade. Instead, the front office is committed to developing young talent and building a sustainable roster capable of contending for a championship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Bulls seem pretty done with the big-time-free-agent Alpha route and Big Three makeup,\u201d\u00a0Sam Smith wrote.\u00a0\u201c\u2026But since the Vu\u010devi\u0107 trade it seems like the Bulls have decided, especially with the urgency in the LaVine trade to get their own daft pick back, that the future will be more about using their own picks in an organic improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026I doubt the Bulls endanger that by trying to make a move to win once\u2014or get to sixth\u2014than gradually building upon what they have. It\u2019s difficult, but it seems like they are going to pursue sustainability over the spectacular. A lot of teams like Philadelphia recently won the offseason; it\u2019s not as valid a route anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Josh Giddey,\u00a0Coby White\u00a0and Buzelis are clearly the future of the franchise.\u00a0Patrick Williams\u00a0is young enough to prove himself as part of that core, too. Murray-Boyles could be the next piece to that puzzle. Still, regardless of who the Bulls select on draft night, the fanbase should rest assured that the front office has a plan in place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Adam Taylor<\/strong>\u00a0is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns for Heavy. He has also written for CelticsBlog, USA Today, Yardbarker and FanSided. Adam has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University.\u00a0More about Adam Taylor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo by Isaiah Vazquez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":64175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64174","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>Bulls Projected to Take Defensive \u2018Savant\u2019 in Latest Mock Draft - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=64174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bulls Projected to Take Defensive \u2018Savant\u2019 in Latest Mock Draft - 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