MatasBuzelis

Preseason question: What will his third-year leap look like? Buzelis’s next season is low-key significant for a Bulls franchise that’s finally starting from the bottom with a brand-new front office and coaching staff. The crown jewel of a previous regime, Buzelis will essentially spend this season proving himself to a new set of bosses. It won’t be easy. There were stretches last season when Buzelis was closer to a caricature of a hopeful prospect than the actual thing; former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan wasn’t shy about criticizing him publicly. His minutes fluctuated as he committed more turnovers than assists. But the good news is all of that struggle still came with tangible development. While enduring the various hardships that beset Chicago last year, Buzelis doubled his scoring average with a clean shot diet. Buzelis’s Moreyball frequency (a.k.a. the percentage of shots taken at the rim or behind the 3-point line) was a whopping 87.5 percent, putting him 13th among 164 players who logged at least 1,500 minutes last season. His athleticism is elite, too: He’s a dunk contest participant who’s already one of the best shot-blocking forwards in the entire league.