Shaq sees superstar potential in Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis, makes bold two-year prediction

With the NBA season right around the corner, Chicago Bulls fans are hopeful for an improved product.

This offseason, the Bulls made a plethora of moves to improve the roster. They also hired a new head coach, Tiago Splitter, with hopes that he can lead this young group in the right direction. Splitter is coming off his first season as a head coach, as he led the Portland Trail Blazers to the playoffs in his one interim year.

As far as the returning players go, one of the main guys to watch this upcoming season is Matas Buzelis.

The former 11th overall pick will be entering his third season in the league, which is usually the year in which a major jump can be made. Buzelis is coming off a strong 2025-26 campaign, where he averaged 16.3 points per game, doubling his total from his rookie season. He also doubled his rebounding totals, as well as his assists.

This increase can be attributed to his minutes per game (16 in his rookie season, to nearly 30 in his second). It’s a welcome sign for Bulls fans to watch a young player like Buzelis continue to take strides.

However, Buzelis thinks he can be even better, especially with increased freedom on offense.

“I feel like there’s gonna be more freedom for me offensively, be more aggressive defensively.” Buzelis continued, “This offseason I’ve been mainly focused on playing through physicality, getting to the rim more. I believe I was shooting too many 3s last year. I’ve been focusing on getting downhill, getting to the midrange more. Putting on weight and getting stronger has been one of the key factors for me.”

In terms of his three-point attempts, they did take a massive jump from his rookie season. Buzelis shot nearly 6.5 threes last year, which was higher than his two-point attempts, which were 6.1.

Matas Buzelis earns praise from Shaquille O’Neal: “Will be a force to be reckoned with.”

It’s encouraging that Matas Buzelis wants to continue getting better. Entering year three, he’s clearly got a list of things to work on. It’ll be a big season for the young forward.

Interestingly enough, some think Buzelis will just get better with time. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently spoke in Lithuania as an ambassador for NordVPN and praised Matas.

“Well, he needs to improve nothing. What I mean by that is, he’s a player that will get better every year,” O’Neal said.

“I’ve known him since he was 17, 18 years old. He wants it, wants to be the guy, plays hard. He practices hard. And he’s signed to Reebok. So I actually really know about his work ethic.”

O’Neal is a major part of Reebok, so it comes as no surprise that he endorsed Buzelis so heavily.

“But, you know, sometimes you just have to let it happen. You know, we see the potential, and we see that he will become a great player. But I like the path that he’s on. And in about two more years, he will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Strong words of praise from the ‘Big Diesel’, who has never been shy with the media, especially on current NBA players. If Buzelis can continue progressing, he’ll be a massive part of this Chicago Bulls rebuild.

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