Matas Buzelis & Chicago Bulls Young Core Shine in Summer League!

Matas Buzelis & Chicago Bulls Young Core Shine in Summer League!

You found yourself on another edition of Locked on Bulls. On today’s episode, we got to talk about the Young Bulls balling out in summer league. Also, we got to take a look at Yuki Kawamura making a little bit of a statement. Hey, I need to be on this team. And uh couple of interesting updates around Josh Giddy and the Kaminga trade possibly being dead. All that more in today’s Locked on Bulls. Let’s go. [Music] You are Locked on Bulls, your daily Chicago Bulls podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thank you for tuning in to Locked on Bulls, member of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it’s your team every single day. I’m your host, Pad the Designer, back at it again. Hayes is not here. He is still dealing with uh he he had the funeral uh uh for his grandmother today. So, make sure to keep him in your prayers, man. Uh, we do not have a title sponsor on today’s episode. So, we’re basically just going to jump right into Oh, wait. No, what’s today? Today is Tuesday. Never mind. Uh, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now. New customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet hits. Uh, let’s start it off here. The Young Bulls going out there and making a name yesterday. Now, listen, it’s only summer league, right? So, you can’t go too far and be like, “Oh my god, they’re going to do this at the NBA level.” But what you want to see from a young team, the growth that we’ve seen from this young team over three days, I or over three games, I should say, I think it is something to be commended. No matter how crazy and insane. Let’s get it out of the way now, right? We all We all know. Dang it. You know what I mean? Like, dang it, Johnny M. Furfy with the yam over Noah Essen gay. I mean like it it was disgusting. That’s all you can say about it, bro. It’s it’s one of those things where you’re just like, “All right, well, go out there and be great now.” And I think the one thing that you can take away from that with the dunk on and all of that that you look at the game, you’re like, “Oh my god, Noah had a pretty good game. Seven for 14, 21 points on the day.” At points honestly seemed like he was uh uh um scoring fairly effortlessly. the three ball is still a little bit of a struggle, but he’s shooting that three ball with confidence. He went three for eight from the field, from the three-point line uh in that game. And I think that that’s, you know, the growth that we’re seeing from Noah. I do wonder if if you know, him shooting the three ball and and how he’s shooting it confidently. When you look at some of his previous tape, right, you could tell that he wasn’t very what what’s the right word for it? He he wasn’t very I I don’t want to keep saying confident. He didn’t feel that that was a shot that was in his arsenal. And so he almost shied away from taking it is kind of the better way to say it, right? And now it feels like he feels comfortable that that’s a shot that should be in his arsenal that he’s getting more comfortable being able to knock down that shot. And we’ve seen that through his growth throughout his young career. I believe from 16 to now 18 years old. He’s gone from shooting 22% from the field to by the end of last season he was shooting 33% from the three-point line. Um now you’re seeing him take that shot confidently. Still not knocking it down at a high clip. you still got to improve it, but those are things that you expected him to have to work on. And so seeing him take that shot is going to be big. And having not the confidence to take that, I think, is going to be big, especially starting his career off. And I don’t know if you guys have tapped in with me and Hayes doing some of the live watch parties of of these games, bro, but like Noah just looks like a massive human being compared to everybody else out there. Like there is a part of me where I’m like, “Yeah, I expect him to be a forward, but like maybe this dude is a center.” Um although the the dunk on last night would not speak to to him being a center, but uh but maybe he is a guy that can play some five and play around the rim. He’s gonna have to add weight 100%. He’s still very very light, but you know, we’re seeing a lot more of the the thinner centers, right? The chat homegrs, the Victor Webbyamas of the world, even though Vic Victor has a little bit more weight to him, but 7 foot three will do that for you. Uh the big thing for me with Noah is just continuing to grow and continuing to find his game. This one thing that I love watching about Lachlan Albbrrook when when Lachlan Albbrrook is is out there. Um four for six yesterday, 12 points, came away with nine rebounds on the day. Me and Hayes talked about this as well. Lachlan Albert could be somebody who I don’t know if this season he finds his way onto the floor. But if you’re talking about finding a guy, maybe it’s Zack Collins or whoever it is who is your five, your starting five moving forward or even if it’s still V this season moving forward, Lachlan Albrich to me is a guy who if you’re talking about a bench big, yeah, he’s a little bit undersized, but he goes out there, he gets boards, he finishes around the rim well, he runs the floor. That’s exactly all I need a bench big to do. Go out there, run the floor, get a couple of blocks, and and be strong defensively. Now, he ended up being a minus three plus minus yesterday. some of the defensive struggles you can kind of see still showing in his game, but that’s where this coaching staff is going to come into place. To me, that’s where Billy Donovan uh um and and some of the defensive schemes that he’s been able to scheme up throughout his time here as the Bulls head coach, I think really will help a guy like Lock and Albbrick not be lost on that. He’s better on ball. I think he sometimes gets lost in team defense, but the big thing for me with him is, you know, like there’s a spot on this team for multiple big men because we don’t really have anybody who’s solidified in that position yet. The expectation is that we’re going to trade Vouch. On top of that, the expectation is that Zack Collins on the last year of his deal may not be that guy, right? So, there’s a lot of opportunity there for a guy who is the five on this team, who actually plays the five to go out there and and uh um you know, win a win a job on this team. And I do think Lachland Albert probably starts off with the Windy City Bulls this year. very similar path to Adama Senogo, but I think very similar maybe a lot more athletic, which may help him in the long run, but a very similar kind of I don’t want to say mindset, but but a confidence that that uh that Adama Senogo had. Adamo knew if he was on the floor, he can get you 10 and 10 easily. And we saw that even at the NBA level. To me, that’s what I really like about what we’re seeing from Lachlan. And then you look at a guy like Modus Bzelis who went out there yesterday and just absolutely had himself a day 28 points. uh end up getting five rebounds. He got he uh one steal, one block on the day. Uh Modus Buzzellis shooting two for four from the three-point line. Got to the free throw line a ton, 10 for 13 and 8 for 14 from the field overall. Listen, that’s how you get the 28 points. Usually when we see efficient scores, and it’s the one thing that I do like about Modis, when Modis is clicking, he’s very, very efficient. When you see the efficient scores get into the 25 to 28 points per game range, it’s because they’re getting to the free throw line. And Billy Donovan talked about this when he was interviewed on uh the first summer league game, I believe. And the conversation was around wanting Modis to become more of a leader, wanting Modis to be that guy who can who can, you know, be somebody that that players turn to and and who can help write the ship. That’s why they have him here playing in summer league. That’s why he’s still playing in summer league cuz I thought he would have been done after the last game. But three games in, you’re seeing Modis Buzzellis start to get a little bit more comfortable, start to understand the shots that he needs to be taken and doesn’t need to be taking, a fish from the three-point line, which is always going to be the question mark, at least early on in his career with him. But right now, to me, when I look at a guy like Modis Bzelis, I think that you have something special in this young man. I think the Bulls see it as well. Now, again, does that mean that he’s going to be a superstar? No. But we I uh um I think I said this either yesterday on lockdown bulls or or when we did the live stream, but Michael Wilb was talking about it. He was talking about all stars around the league who are looking at Modis Bzelis and saying there’s something there. Now I don’t know if he’s going to achieve all of it, but there is 110% something there that the Bulls can take advantage of and they just have to be able to develop that out of it. seems like that is the path that the Bulls are really looking to take here because there’s a want to get modest much more involved in things and it’s why I’ve said listen I know you know me and Hayes kind of disagree with this but I do think the Bulls plan is this season that you’re going to kind of end up moving VC out of this lineup and we want to get modest as many shots as possible. I think he’s going to live around that 15 to 17 range in shots per game. I think he’s going to be somebody who’s going to try and get to the free throw line a ton. I think that he’s going to be somebody who the Bulls are going to look to put the ball in his hands and let him operate. And him and him the pick and roll with Josh Giddy, that’s something that you can utilize. And I think people forget, you kind of look at Modis like he’s a a power or or a small forward, right? Because of the the size, the the weight, I guess I should say, but Billy Donovan also said Modis Buzzellis has added 10 pounds of muscle um to his body this off season. And so with that being said, on top of the player that you saw last year who good handles, able to get to the bucket, able to finish around the rim, he’s also 6’10. So he’s somebody who I think the fact that he wants to play above the rim as much as he does and with adding 10 lbs of muscle, what would that put him at? Uh he’s now at about 219, 220 somewhere in there. That’s kind of right where you want to see this type of player at. I think it’s good for playing the four. I don’t want to see him play the five, but I think it’s good for him playing the four, playing that three as well, adding more strength, adding more muscle, and continuing to build on his game. I love the fact that we’re seeing this out of Modis, and I think that it’s one of the things that is going to be a telltale sign of, you know, this is kind of who the Bulls are going to start focusing and centering things around, just the the investment that they’re making and this young man moving forward. But, uh, we’re going to keep this conversation moving on the other side. I want to keep having a conversation around these young guys because I think there’s a ton to talk about here. But first, we do have to take a quick break and uh give you an ad read from FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing and whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green or high stakes soccer, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game with your friends and get sun while your friends get sunburned at the beach. I’ve been using FanDuel to track my favorite matchups. And the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet. Whether I’m placing a same game parlay or watching a bet right into the ninth inning, FanDuel makes it feel like I’m more a part of the action. If you’re new to FanDuel, new customers can get just a uh can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the FanDuel app today. Visit fanuel.com to get started. More Locked on Bulls coming up next. Still didn’t send me the music. So, we’re right back into this thing. Man, we do this every time. It’s a solo episode at this point. I think this is kind of just the theme for us where Hayes didn’t send Pat the music. Yeah, he didn’t send me the music. We still don’t got it. We’ve never had it. Three years strong, baby. Let’s keep it going. Uh, let’s jump into this conversation because the one thing that I I do wonder about now as we’ve continued to watch these summer league games, there’s been one name that everybody brings up and he’s getting more and more consistent the more opportunities he gets. I know the size is kind of crazy here, but could Yuki Kawamura actually be making a run for this team? Now, I know I think I think it was literally uh Friday’s episode where I said I think Yuki probably gets cooked by just about anybody that is on the floor, but Yuki showed me something in that last game that I think peop a lot of people would take for granted, but it shows an understanding of where he’s at. Now, listen, at the end of the day, he’s 5 foot8, I believe, right? I don’t expect him to be consistently on an NBA roster. I don’t expect him to be somebody that teams are relying on. But when Yuki goes out there and gets an opportunity, he is fighting tooth and nail to get the most out of every bit that he can. And the one thing that I love about his game is he knows, hey, if it’s a three, I’m taking it. If it’s not, I better be wide open. I am looking to pass. And that is why Yuki might actually find himself on a team, especially posting up numbers like a plus 14. yesterday, 15 points, 10 assists, only one rebound on the game, three steals, though, finding a way to play in those passing lanes. Those are the kind of players who Listen, I’m not saying that he’s going to be a starter at any point in this league. I don’t think that the days of like Rob is in the comments talking about Mugsy Bose there. I think the days of Mugsy Bose are probably gone. I also think Yuki, at least from what we’ve seen, he doesn’t shoot the three ball well enough to be a guard that thrives in this league. But the one thing that I will say is when you know you have a skill set that people can utilize that is and you do it well. And that’s the one thing I can say about Yuki. He’s not just doing it well. He’s facilitating great. He had 10 assists to three turnovers in that game. Two of the turnovers were just like the ball end up bouncing off of somebody or it didn’t it didn’t roll the right way or he was trying to make a crazy pass, right? Like th those really are the turnovers that you usually tend to see from Yuki outside of that first game. The first game was terrible. But the the want to to be a facilitator, I think is something that Yuki truly can rely on if you’re talking about him actually making an NBA roster. And when you talk about turnover to assist ratio, that is always something that NBA GMs are going to look at. Look at a guy like Trey Jones. Trey Jones, yes, he is six foot. Yes, he is bigger than Yuki. Probably makes Yuki look like a smaller a much smaller man. But the one thing that you can say about Trey Jones is even at 6 foot, you kind of go, is the three ball efficient enough for us to have this guy as a guard on the team, are you, you know, are you a good enough defender on guards where you’re shutting them down to the point where it’s like, yeah, we’re willing to put him out there. To me, if you’re a six-foot and and or I at this point, I mean, you’re probably talking about a 6’4 and under point guard, you’re at a disadvantage in this NBA because of how many big point guards there are. I think when you look at a guy like Trey Trey Jones, you can take that same semblance of how well he facilitates, continues to get him on the court. I feel that same way about Yuki. Listen, he may not be tall. He may not be a guy that’s going to go out there and consistently get you 15 to 18 points a game, but the one thing that he probably will consistently be able to do is get everyone else involved. And you know what? That opens up a lot of job opportunities in this NBA. I think you saw it with how he got uh guys like Emanuel Miller involved in yesterday’s game, even with how he got Noah Essen involved in yesterday’s game. Like those are the things now where yeah, you could be the tallest dude in the world, but if I’m getting the ball into the hands of the guys that truly matter now, you have to be on a different team. And I think what’s tough about this is Bulls fans are going to see Yuki and they’re going to say, “We have that team.” No, we don’t. We don’t. We don’t have the team that you can just throw a point guard out there that’s 5’8″ and say, “He’s going to get everyone else involved and they’re going to cook. We don’t have enough shooters on this team. we don’t have enough uh uh um you know people that can create their own shot on this team. Like that’s the kind of team that I think Yuki needs to be on. And right now that’s just not the Chicago Bulls. And that’s okay because this is a young man that seems like he’s going to continue to press on and continue to fight for an opportunity to live his dream out with all of this. And I think that’s the big thing that you truly want to see from a a from these young guys in summer league. People think of summer league as like it’s all about making this team. No, it’s all about making a good impression for a team. It only takes one team to pick you up from the for the year. That’s what we saw when when it happened in Memphis. Do I think that Yuki could be a member of the Windy City Bulls? Sure. Do I think that it matters if Yuki is a member of the Windy City Bulls? Probably not, because I doubt there’s ever going to be a moment where Yuki ends up getting called up because the Bulls are at a at a we we ran out of guards to utilize. I mean, there’s so many guards on the team that we literally have Javon Carter doing nothing. Now, that could be a skill set thing, but there’s so many guards on this team. It’s just guards and forwards. There’s just not a spot for Yuki, and that’s okay as long as you’re able to go out there and pick and and get picked up by another NBA team. That to me is where I think Yuki is going to thrive here uh in the long run. I know I’m not normally supposed to do this, but I really want to get into uh the different trade things, and I want to make this third segment kind of the longer segment here. So, we’re going to take a quick break here. cut this segment a little bit shorter. And coming up, we’re going to tell you guys about Hungry Routt first, but coming up, I want to talk to you about some of the different trade and signings that could be there. We’re hearing the Kaminga trade possibly is dead at this point, which it should be dead if we’re being honest. Uh, and we’re also hearing that Josh Giddy and the Chicago Bulls are very, very close to locking in this deal. 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More locked on bulls coming up next. All right, I I wanted to get into this a little bit earlier because tail end of the show usually is the shortest segment. I want this to be the longer segment now because we’ve got a couple of updates here while we’ve been sitting here. I want to start with the Josh Giddy one here because from Jamal Collier uh as the NBA offseason has moved along uh the conversation around negotiations with free restrictive free agent Josh Giddy uh and the Chicago Bulls are in positive are in a positive swing. The two sides project to eventually come to an agreement on a new contract. There was a lot of concern that maybe because of Josh Giddy wanting the 30 million and because of the Bulls uh not wanting to get him to the 30 million that this deal might not get done. To me, the big thing right now is that we’re hearing that this is a positive momentum. We had heard the conversation that stalled a little bit. We’re hearing positive momentum that the Bulls could get this thing done sooner than later. And that does excite me especially, yeah, this is usually the time when things do get done here at NBA Summer League. Um, the one thing that I do want to know about this is is this Josh Giddy getting his 30 million or is this the Bulls winning the deal or is this somewhere in the middle? Either way, I think you’re coming out of this pretty well. U maybe the years won’t be the same and we’ll see Josh Giddy, which it was rumored that he may just take the qualifying offer at 11 million, which is why contract negotiations started to get concerning for so many people. But when I look at a guy like uh Josh Giddy and and what he could provide to this team, if you have the right team around him, which if you’re all in on Modis Buzzel, if you believe Modis Bzelis is the answer for the Chicago Bulls, if you believe that Modis Bzelis is going to go out there and be a 25 to to 27 point per game player, he’s going to be one of those guys that’s elite finishing around the rim. He’s somebody that you can build your future of your team around, which that’s how Modest talks. Seems like that’s how Billy Donovan’s talking. Seems like that’s how AK’s talking. We got to see if it plays out. But if you feel like that’s the kind of guy you can build around, then I would love to have a guy like Josh Giddy on this team. And the 30 million is going to seem like nothing. Even if he does become one of those 15, eight, and eight guys, which I think, you know, maybe 30 million is a little bit steep there. Is he helping Josh Giddy to be a 25 to 28 point per game player? Is he helping Josh Giddy to take a step that the Chicago Bulls are? It seems like they’re sounding like they’re expecting Modis Buzzel to take this year. Is he helping uh Modis Bzelis become a leader? Remember one of the big uh uh moments for me last season with the with the Chicago Bulls was when Mus seemed like he was playing fine, but Josh Giddy was getting into him for missing assignments, missing defensive assignments, not being able to go out there. Then they came out there and and you know, very next play all of a sudden Modis has a steal. he’s down the court, finishes the ball with a lay. Like those are the things where, you know, having a guy like Josh Giddy around, I think are going to be very very impactful for the Chicago Bulls moving forward. And and like I said last year, uh I I hit something on my desk. I thought I knocked it over. Like I said, uh uh end of last season and and I’ve said this off season with the conversation that you’re in right now with with Josh Giddy or without, you’ve chosen this conversation of building around Young Pieces. Okay, build around it then. You’re better with Josh Giddy than you are without him. Does that mean you’re a championship team? Probably not. Does that mean that, you know, the $30 million may be an overpay in the beginning? Maybe, right? It’s going to take time to get there. But having an elite point guard that can put people in a position consistently, and it’s the one thing that we know Josh Giddy can do. The question mark on the 30 million is, is he going to be the scorer that he was by the end of last season? Last year at the end of the year, Josh Giddy was finishing around the rim at a high clip. Is he going to be the scorer that Josh Giddy was last season? I I don’t know if that’s the case. I he maybe he does settle around 15 to 17 points a game, but if he does and he’s creating so many opportunities for guys like Kobe White, for guys like uh uh Modis Balis, I think that that just makes things a heck of a lot easier for this Chicago Bulls team moving forward. And I think it’s going to be the best thing for business by by the end of the day. You know what I mean? Like there’s there’s nothing like having that guy that can continue to set up. And I always I I know this is the extreme example, right? But I always go back to what uh um Jason Kidd said and he told this to I think it was Aman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson, one of them. Um if you run with me, I will get you 10 points. If you run with me, I will get you 10 points. That’s the kind of point guard that Josh Giddy is. That’s the kind of facilitator that he is. So the scoring aside is one thing, but is Josh Giddy creating these opportunities for the guys that you’re having on your team? Is Josh Giddy creating the opportunities for a guy like Noah Essenay, for a guy like Misellis to be better players than they are without him? That absolutely can happen. And we’ve seen that happen in a number of places. When guys play with Chris Paul, guess what? Their numbers go up. When Chris Paul leaves, their numbers kind of fall back to earth. Doesn’t mean they win a championship, but it does mean that it helps your team move in the right direction. and you have to have those other players around you to go out there and kind of push that envelope to the next level. So, we’ll see what ends up happening with that. I also want to touch on this. The Jonathan Kaminga conversation has been one that that has been semi I I don’t want to say loud at this point. Um I think that it has been one that fans probably have not wanted to let go is a better way to say it. And Joe Calli of the Sun Times uh reported some new findings coming from NBA summer league that in Las Vegas he said rumors the Bulls were interested in a signing trade for the Warriors Jonathan Kaminga have quieted substantially. I I think that it’s done. You know what I mean? When you add a guy like Noah Essen who who is you know showing strides here in summer league no matter what the dunk says. Relax you guys. Uh who’s showing strides here in summer league. Um, I think when you when you have a guy like Modis on the team already, where does Jonathan Kaminga fit in? And people see Jonathan Kaminga and they think, well, now it’s it’s, you know, he him and Modis, they’ll work perfectly together. No, Jonathan Kaminga wants to go to a team where he’s going to get the ball in his hands. He may still not get the best situation for him while he’s out in uh uh Golden State because he needs the ball in his hands to be the best version of him. And that’s not the kind of offense that Josh that having Josh Giddy on this team makes sense with. That’s not the kind of offense that the Bulls want to run. And I’ll bet you the fact that the Bulls are getting a lot closer to getting this Giddy deal done is probably one of the main reasons why we’re going to end up seeing uh the Bulls go out here and probably move away and pivot away completely from the Jonathan Kaminga situation. If there were conversations there, having a player like Jonathan Kaminga with Josh Giddy just doesn’t make sense because Jonathan Kaminga is a ball stopper and that’s okay. You can win with ball stoppers. Anthony Edwards is a ball stopper. He wins a lot of games. Luca Donuch is a ball stopper. He wins a lot of games, but the ball in his hands is how you go about winning the game. That to me is something that the Bulls probably don’t want to have with the current makeup of this team. And so to me, I thought the Kaminga deals were dead for a while here. It seems like those conversations may have still been happening, but now uh that the sign and trade conversations have quieted per Joe Cowi. You know, maybe that’s the end of all of this and and who knows how this finishes out in the long run. Still, none of these restricted free agents have signed. I am very shocked that Cam Thomas hasn’t signed yet. It’s a weird one. I don’t know what Brooklyn’s waiting for with that. Like, are you are you Cam Thomas is the best of the bunch out of these players, right? Like, he’s the most proven one. He’s the one I would probably want to have on my team the most. I I guess Kaminga kind of is in that conversation, but not really because Cam Thomas has done it at a a much more elite level and a much more consistent level. I would rather have Cam Thomas than Jonathan Kaminga any day. But uh we’ll see what ends up happening, man. But uh hey, we appreciate you guys for tuning in and showing love. As always, hit that like button, subscribe to the page, leave a fivestar view. Y’all know what to do. I’m going to get up out of here because I got probably three, four more shows to do after this. But uh as always man, stay tapped in with us. We’ll have more content dropping on the channel. So rock with us over there as well. And big prayers up to my brother man Hayes. Prayers and love to you and the family man. Y’all stay safe out there Chicago T Nation. Stand up. Peace.

Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue, and Yuki Kawamura are making their presence felt in the 2025 NBA Summer League! Haize and Pat The Designer break down how the Chicago Bulls’ young trio is showing flashes of NBA-ready talent and why this could change the team’s outlook moving forward.

We cover:
🔥 Matas Buzelis’ all-around game and star potential
🔒 Noa Essengue’s defensive upside
⚡ Yuki Kawamura’s surprising impact as a playmaker
📈 Are these performances a sign the Bulls’ youth movement is ready for a bigger role next season?

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