Matas Buzelis Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Strengths, Weaknesses, Fit & More
on today’s show we continue our Houston Rockets draft profile series focusing on G ignite’s jumbo Wing Matas buellis will’ll focus on his strengths his weaknesses his NBA player comps his fit with the Houston Rockets and so much more it’s all coming up on today’s locked on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence starts 6 5 4 3 2 one what’s up and welcome to another edition of lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian and credential media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search locked on Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe give us your thoughts on Matas in the YouTube comments or just come by and say go Rockets it helps us out a ton now today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on MBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply and as always thank you so much for making locked on Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you for being an every dayer joining us now is your weekly co-host NBA draft Enthusiast and die hard Houston Rockets fan Madison Moore you can track down on Twitter at madman leaks here as we continue our lock on Rockets draft profile series on today’s episode we’re focusing on the g-league ignites Matas boo zealous the kind of jumbo wing with a lot of upside on both sides of the basketball but how realistic is his ability to achieve his upside on either side of the ball that’s what we’re going to tackle on today’s episode so Madison the way we start these things off man give us your elevator pitch for Matas yeah man Matas is a like you said a jumbo siiz wing do- it all Wing that the league is currently looking for right now these guys who have length and size he’s 6’9 6’1 Wing that has great size and positional versatility he has uh great ball handling skills he can he can do a lot of different things uh dribble pass jump shoot those type of prospects that offer versatility not just uh defensively but also offensively being able to play up and down your lineups he can play any of the three wing spots and probably could give you some small ball five uh small ball five minutes once he buls up but those type of guys are extremely valuable we see these guys guys that are that are able to play in any type of situation and that is the sell from Matas pelis he doesn’t do everything at an NBA level right now but with his size and with how good his skills are for his size right now you can really build this player into this you know pseudo player that can play any type of role on your team and he also has a lot of upside to be a little bit more because he he does have a lot of uh a lot of NBA projectable skills so that is the sale for Matas melis as this pseudo switchable Do-it all Wing that’ll play defense and score in a variety different ways he kind of looks like you know it’s almost like if you were to start the the building blocks for what you would hope would one day be kind of a really good like connective kind of point forward type player that’s who Matas feels like right now and now again there’s a lot a lot of projection on some of his other abilities his ability to shoot the ball his defensive you know capabilities all that stuff but I do think just when we’re talking about him being a jumbo Wing right Clon it you know just under 6’9 so 68 and 3/4 where thereabouts 6’10 wingspan just under 200 lb so he’s a little lanky a little you know a little lean for his size right now but that’s you know he’s got a body that hope hopefully you can fill out overtime make him maybe a more competent Defender be able to bang with some bigger players uh down low give him some of the you know that’s going to be one of the things is you know can he add muscle can he add size without losing his ability to switch onto smaller guys as well defensively but talking about you know kind of what he brings to the table we’re going to get into his strengths his weaknesses talk about some player comps here in a moment the usual stuff that we do if you’ve been listening to these draft profiles you should be intimate intimately familiar with how we structure them to this point now my thing with with Matas is it feels like so much of his game is is theoretical at this point right like he he should be a floor spacer he should be but he’s not he’s not shooting the ball great right now is the problem right now he’s only shooting 26% from three that’s not like an all inspiring number and he’s only shooting just under 70% from the the free throw line and those are usually the two numbers that we look at not not just the three-point shooting in a vacuum but also projecting like the free throw shooting like can this guy be a good shooter one day those are generally the numbers that we look at what do you see when you look at him as a potential floor space or an offensive threat in that regard yeah I mean I think right now his he didn’t shoot it well and historically has a shot well in high school but his senior year he actually shot it very well from three-point land and the mechanics on his jump shot are very smooth very repeatable I really like them a lot I and one of the things about his jump shot is almost all of his jump shots came short which is uh the type of thing that you can coach up right uh Matas has even spoken on interviews about the distance in the three-point line and getting adjusted to that distance is things that we’ve seen with a lot of NBA players that are actually good shooters that come in and are not able to translate that skill you have to get your routine ready so there’s a lot of indicators pointing in the right direction that Matas will be able to shoot it in the future but I think that is the kind of crooks of mat’s entire game like right now we could talk about some of the strengths well Matas is a a a great ball handler he can attack off the off the bouns especially when the defense is uh already being shifted off the bounce um um uh attacking Closeouts right he has nice creation moves where he uses his body very well to get to the basket and shield Defenders off and finish with would touch at the rim and that’s a really great thing to have for uh a big jumble siiz wing and uh if you guys remember I talked about Zachary Reet and the theoretical nature of his size combined with shooting and versatility and one of the things that I thought was a knock on Reet is although he had this great size I felt like he didn’t play with size offensively he didn’t play with the type of athletic burst um he didn’t move guys uh he didn’t bump guys off or play with physicality and use his length to really finish over guys that you that is the complete opposite with buellis buellis even though his frame is kind of slight at the moment he’s not afraid of contact he bumps guys off you can he can you can play him out of the Ducker spot where he can finish with athleticism he’s also excellent in transition and so there’s a lot of athletic gifts and tools with his body type that you can really mold into the type of player that you want on your team um and that I think is the real appeal with zealous it’s not just that he is theoretically big he he is you know big but also I we I love the way that he uses that size to as an advantage creation um uh in his film he’s a guy that I I think he’s got a great like just overall feel for the game right like you could tell he’s a Hooper right he goes out there he plays right like he can get to his spots you know little little shimmies little moves to open himself up in the mid-range got a great little touch on some floaters that kind of stuff can you know again so we talk about some of the numbers and some of the the outside shooting being kind of theoretical at this point but you watch him play you’re like oh this guy can play like he and and he understand he understands how whether he’s got the ball in his hands how to kind of create for his teammates he’s got good Court Vision again that’s where some of the kind of the point forward projection comes from but then even playing off ball right setting screens cutting being able to make sure that things don’t get mucked up offensively understanding where he needs to move to on the floor to open things up for his teammates and it all it’s all worth saying that you know we’re highlighting his strengths right now we’ll get into some of the Downs of his downsides of his game here in just a moment but it’s I think it’s a little bit harder almost to project some of these g-league guys especially when just the structure of that g-league team was so all over the place right there’s a reason that the g-league ignite is now gone is because that whole project is just defunct it was bad so it’s I think it’s almost a disservice right the guys like like Matas Ron Holland whoever who who were you know playing for the ignite because now we’re kind of a lot of it is a little bit theoretical in our projections of like man if we could have seen them in a more structured system with a with some identity where they had you know either a a more concrete role where they’re playing more to their strengths instead of this style of basketball it’s like hey you’re going to try a little bit everything we’re just going to like you know we’re going to give you a turn to shine we’re going to give you a turn to shine it’s like no like if Matas had gone to a a Collegiate program or or a professional program elsewhere then maybe things would look a little bit different yeah I mean honestly I think the context in they play that they played in was very very tough for them um they often ask these guys to do things that they weren’t quite capable of doing at the moment um they had a lot of injuries to the vets which you can also argue is is a is a role in like trying to develop these players but at the same time you don’t often like I I feel like you don’t see that in Collegiate programs right you don’t see college coaches pushing these players to step out of their comfort zone and hey we want you to develop and work on this because the whole point of the g- league ignite was like hey it’s a developmental program we want these guys to get better but at the same time it’s also like kind of hurting their stock in a way because now you’re seeing guys where maybe maybe he shouldn’t have handled the ball too much cuz like yeah he can handle it a little a little bit create for himself create for others but there were also points where like you know some maybe some ill-advised decision making or dribbling into double teams and just kind of Mucky play offensively at times which isn’t necessarily his fault but more like a coaching issue with the ignite yeah man I I think the teams aren’t balanced enough like uh they had a lot of veterans out of the game out uh injury-wise and so all the young guys had to play all at once it’s not like when you send cam Whitmore down to play at the g-league ignite and he has uh eight to 10 veterans around him and they’re able to focus on this one thing that they want him to do while other guys support him in in a in a competitive infrastructure these guys were kind of thrown to the Wolves this year especially because of injuries and they were often blown out and they weren’t playing in a lot of competitive context and that type of stuff really hurts your evaluation because you you know when you’re always getting blown out they’re not in very high pressure situations we don’t see how they perform when the stakes are at their highest and I think that’s a League thing period just CU those stadiums aren’t really full full of players and that’s one of the things that I think they miss in college basketball but yeah you know that was what makes EV way off topic here but but it’s but it’s I think it’s an important context to the conversation and it’s you know it’s worth noting since this the first g-league guy or g-league ignite guy that we’ve talked about during our our draft profile series coming up we want to get into uh you know some more of the the strengths the weaknesses as well as our player comps we have for him kind of thinking about how he would fit on the Houston Rockets team we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by game time game time makes getting NBA Finals tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off they’ve got killer last minute deals all in prices views from your seat and their lowest price guaranteed look I don’t know about you my least favorite thing when I’m buying tickets could be to go to a game could be a concert whatever any kind of event in your area is you’re you’re buying the ticket you’re going 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kind of his feel for the game being a strength and and kind of how he was a good shooter for his you know his senior year in high school man shoot 43% from Beyond The Arc but like Is that real was he just really hot that that one stretch you know it’s it’s that’s one of the hard Parks about talking about these prospects is what’s real what’s fake right and do you not get baited into thinking oh a small sample size is actually him being a good shooter um defensively I I think one of the things about him right with his frame being a jumbo Wing is he projects to be a guy that is a switchable Defender a guy that may be down the line not right now defending fives and stuff but maybe future like you already said kind of you know some small ball five minutes here and there I do like what he provides defensively he’s a good def like he rotates well defensively there’s a reason that he average 1.9 blocks per game right he’s got that great length the ability to contest at The Rim I do think that it’s going to take him some time and maybe some finer like defensive understandings of how to be able to switch out onto the perimeter on smaller guys without getting completely blown by yeah no um I think the perimeter defense is not as good as the off ball right now um the perimeter def but I do think he has a good structure to work with I think he does flip his hips well he’s just not as good as he needs to be at the moment and that’s understandable for young players it’s probably going to take him some time before he’s going to be a plus at you know switching at every position especially when you get to the really Shifty guys or projecting him forward as a stopper in the way that a lot of these big wings are but I do think it’s well within his outcomes like I think he can get to defensive stopper level at least a a level that you’re you’re fine with him switching on to let’s say a Luca donic right you don’t feel like you’re it’s a complete loss of Hope there right and so I I think that that’s okay but I I think how he’s just good but not great at that speaks to a lot of parts of his game right when we get into weaknesses we we we talk about he can he can ball handle he uh he can do a little bit of shot creating right he can do a little bit of a little bit like ree in a way where like we talked about ree where there’s a lot of things that he’s like pretty good at but he have that one Elite skill and I don’t think when we were kind of discussing Reet we never wound up because I think we had this conversation like after we hit the record or after we hit the stop button on the recording and we never actually put it in the Pod which you know slight disservice to you our listeners were so sorry about that but like that was one of the things that came up when we were talking about Reet off camera was just one of the reasons that both of us kind of had this feeling about him is that he’s a little good at a lot of things but not really Elite at one skill so so I actually think it’s more similar to the way we would we talked about Alex SAR like Alex SAR was good at all like shooting for the position dribbling for the position right so so cuse Reay I feel like doesn’t do certain things at a high enough level for me he doesn’t use his size well you know to me he doesn’t do certain things and that’s what makes me lower on him but I think it’s similar to the in the same way that SAR was like yeah you’re good for your height and your position and your archetype you’re good at these things but you’re not NBA level good that these things aren’t at an NBA level where we can expect you to come do these in the first two years at a very very high level and but there is a pathway for him to get very solid at all these things and so I think the biggest weakness right now for Bellis is a lot of this is theoretical we don’t know if he’ll hit those 90th percentile outcomes but he isn’t very far away from them for them to to become that and if he does come around and round his game out at an NBA level at all those different skill sets you’re going to have a highlevel starter on your hands at that size and he’ll be able to use a lot of the skills he already has in his play style like his using his physicality to get to the rim and shield Defenders and finish finish with either hand he’s going to able to use those things with that improved skill to really become a very good player and honestly there is some creation upside which gives him some Allstar pop I’m very curious where you’re going to go because whenever we start talking about these prospects and kind of you know mulling over thinking okay who who who does this player remind me of and stuff I start coming up with comps in my head of who I think this player could be or reminds me of and I’m always curious if you and I line up on these comps so let’s get into we talking about outcomes projections all that stuff let’s get to our comps that you’ve got for us we do the low the mid then the highend comps let’s start with our lowend comps yeah so our lowend comps this uh this is a a good comp that I think actually their games are very very similar and that’s Sam decker right so Sam Decker also a 6’9 wing all guy who was good at everything but not great great at anything but used his energy to get out running and really affect the game in that way um and I think if if buellis never really improves his game to the heights that we think he can right if he never gets that skill then Sam Decker would be kind of what he looks like he you know a guy who does everything and uses his energy and size to affect the game in those ways how tragic would it be if the Rockets did take buellis and then he like re recreates the uh the Sam Decker gift of him like chasing after the ball slipping and it hit him in the face oh my God just let’s let’s not have let’s not have Sam Decker part two in a rocket Jersey all right I think that ruined his career CU I actually thought Sam Decker was a very good player I don’t I was excited by the pick man he was never able to really put it together yeah so I don’t know he just never improved that’s what that’s what I think it was but yeah to continue um guys like Justin holiday another guy that is a long rangey Wing who can shoot a bit play a little bit of Defense but never really Rises to the level that you need starter minutes out of him and just is kind of like a rotational guy and the last guy I have is nir little another guy that is a big jumbo siiz Wing strong Wing that never really got all those skills to come that that he needed those auxiliary skills but if the defense comes on really hard and you get some improvement in the three but it doesn’t get to a high enough level those are the type of lowend outcomes I think buellis will will reach um so let’s get to the median guys now um one of my favorite comps for median outcomes is Chandler Parsons okay so Chandler Parsons Prime Chandler Parsons hopefully Chandler Parsons with some better knees but yeah with some better knees man but yeah so but I I think Chandler Parsons is a great uh because chanler Parsons would had that jumbo size that switch ability that you could see that you saw he also came in uh as a poor shooter and got on the floor because of his defense and really turned himself into a really Elite shooter and I think that is the type of mechanics and and shot setup I think that is in well within bazel’s outcomes that he he can not not only could I think bzel be a good shooter but I think there is still in his outcomes to be a very good shooter like jman Parsons was but also offer defense and a lot of different rebounding and and energy that that chanler offered I think that’s a really good outcome for him and I think that’s possible another guy is Danny abdia another guy who started off slow when he was drafted in the lottery but really came on this year year jumbo size Wing that can shoot uh pass and do it all I think that’s another guy and lastly Kyle Anderson I uh I really like Kyle Anderson as the cop um Kyle Anderson doesn’t play with the energy that billus plays with but he really reminds me of B uh bazis um bazis reminds me of Kyle Anderson when he is slowing down in the paint on drives and giving counters and able to make reads out of that and score with touch on the at The Rim uh another guy who worked on his jump shot and got it to a workable level and just another guy that you can put on the floor you can trust to make the smart play and you know you can trust him in in crunch time situations to defend and also score at a high level I like I like that one I like that one a lot I’m glad you bring because he because Bell does have a great motor that’s the other thing is he’s he’s constantly pushing trying to you know make things happen whether it’s offensively defensively whatever but I love the Kyle Anderson comp because Anderson’s not a guy who’s beaten anybody off the dribble because of like his explosiveness or whatever there’s a reason his nickname is slow-mo right he does looks a little slow out there on the court but guess what he still makes it work so yeah and it’s a little slow-mo in there when he gets to Euro stepping through the lane and you know having to give guys change of pace but those are the median end outcomes I think which are really good outcomes for a guy you know what I mean like those like I’d be really happy if I got that in the top five of this draft you know um but I do think there are some highlevel Allstar outcomes uh that he can reach the first one I give is Rashard Lewis so a lot of rard Lewis has gotten comps from a lot of different guys over the past years but I think bazis is a is a a better comp and that’s if he fills out his body very well and becomes really strong like a very strong Defender and really that jump shot actually comes on in in a real way I think Rashard Lewis would be an excellent cop he’s able to he’s able to finish with athleticism take guys off the really attack Closeouts and become a highlevel guy in those ways and if the shooting comes on in a real way I think Rashard Lewis is a real good cop um next guy I have is Lu Alan another guy um that I think is good at a lot of things but wasn’t great at anything he was a really good Defender but he he was good at shot creation not amazing but at an Allstar level good sh shot creation he’s able to create in the mid-range he’s able to shoot threes when he needs to and able to defend at a high level and a very smart player and so those are the type of things I think when you get these jumbo siiz wings that those are the type of outcomes that that you’ll get and my last one my favorite one and this will take some of that passing to come on at a real level that IQ has to really pop on this one I think we’re about to lock in on this one I think I think we’ve got the same guy go oh my God I don’t know Lamar odm oh okay not not quite who I was thinking but I like I like odm okay all right go ahead yeah no I like Lamar odm and that’s if the energy really comes through in a real way jumbo siiz guy who can do a bit of playmaking get on the boards and rebound and affect the game in a a various different ways that is like I think these you know this because he’s good at so many different things but not great at anything he can really build his game out in a various different ways and I think Lamar Odum kind ofap encapsulates that in in his height and outcomes I like that okay the guy that I had in my mind as as we’ve been talking about him as I’ve looked at him watched a little bit of film and stuff I I was seeing some like early shades of hedu turkalo like if he gets the shooting that’s the that’s the problem is like hedu could do all these things we’re talking about like when you talking about a point forward like a traditional like that point forward role like hedu could do everything right everybody like and that’s why when you when you gave me Rashard Lewis I started immediately thinking about those magic teams right there’s a reason those magic teams work where like yeah Jamir Nelson ran some of the point and then later on right raay for Allon the trade where where the Rockets sent raay for to to Orlando but hedu was their primary initiator right he ran a lot of the offense for that magic team and he did it with a 610 frame wasn’t crazy athletic right didn’t have a whole lot of pop in his game but was a was a great was a solid shooter was a great was a great passer good good Court Vision all that stuff could operate out of the pick and roll and he ran a lot of that Orlando Magic offense right and he had some great stance with the magic with the uh with the Sacramento Kings like so really strong career there I think he I think he was a Once Upon a Time Allstar for a couple Seasons maybe he might have got there once or twice he was a very strong player especially with Orlando maybe he got there with Orlando he was their their best perimeter player I feel like Turk never made it to an Allstar team that wow okay he was he was close uh well not I won’t I won’t say he was close I’m looking at his numbers like he he put up numbers that you could warrant like an All-Star selection I think his best season where he won most improved player of the year uh with Orlando is uh when he was 28 uh he came in he won most improved he averaged 19 and a half points per game five and a half rebounds five assists like that’s that’s borderline All-Star kind of numbers like if you can give me 25 and five that’s like depending on how good the conference is that you’re in you could maybe make a claim to being on an All-Star team so a damn shame that hedu never got it but I that was the comp that I had in my mind um coming up we got to get into our Rockets fit how would it look like if the Rockets did bring buellis into the fold we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by prize picks prize pick is 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prize pick app and use code locked on NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 prize picks pick more pick less that easy and final segment here at locked on Rockets you daily podcast home for everything Houston Rocket it’s basketball all right Madison let’s talk about Matas and his potential fit with this Houston Rockets team now we’re talking about potentially if the Rockets take him number three overall adding another kind of jumbo Wing to this squad right I I don’t know if you count tari in the mix with like a jumbo Wing he’s he’s got good size but I wouldn’t necessarily call him a jumbo Wing um but he is kind of in that same mold as a as a Jabari type right where Jabari is you know 611 maybe 7 foot now you know legitimately with just the way he looks with his height wingspan all that stuff where I struggle with is thinking about and this is similar to what we talked about with ree right is projecting okay what does Matas bring to the table that is either different or better than what tari and Jabari currently bring to the table we’ve talked about this a lot about the Rockets diversifying their player archetypes and what they have as far as their young core is concerned which is why we’ve highlighted guys like Donovan kingan and Reed Shepard guys who bring skill sets to the table that are not currently present in this young young core now yes we are headed into we’re we’re in the age of the of NBA basketball where jumbo wings are being prioritized right yes there is a world where you think you can build up Matas into this incredible modernday NBA Wing but realistically does he have a brighter future or a higher ceiling than either of the two modern-day wings that the Rockets already have on the roster in tar and Jabari I actually don’t know if he he he probably doesn’t do anything better than him right now and I don’t know if his ceiling is better than than it’s probably better than uh his ceiling is probably a little better than T een but as far as Jabari Smith I’m not sure but there are things that I think that he can do a little bit better than Jabari defensively in as a rotating defend also and it also doesn’t have to be better it can be different too is the other thing like oh yeah no and and part of that is we’ve talked about like his playmaking game and all that stuff like that is very different than what those guys bring right those guys are you know T’s your defensive Ace your stopper your rebounder jabari’s your switchable you know big man you know play some small ball five all that your spot up three-point shooter so mates does bring some different skill sets but will the will that skill set like will the playmaking will his you know his ability to put the ball on the floor and create a little bit will that ever am Mount to being better am Mount to being you know making him a better player or a more beneficial player than either of those two other guys that’s kind of where getting at I don’t think I can confidently say that but I do think he has a chance right I do think those are those within his outcomes I mean he he’s already a better ball handler than both of them so he’s he’s going to be able to attack close outs better than both both of them and I think his finishing off drives will probably be a little bit better as well and you and you add that with the connective passing and the off ball defense his off ball defense isn’t going to be better than tares but it it it very well could be better than Jabari as well as like a a flying around Defender he’s a very energy Defender that could uh provide some rim rim protection with Jabar typically uh provides his what secondary Rim protection or rotation defense uh defensive uh with with defensive positioning that’s how he provides his uh rotating defense but Matas will be able to bring energy in athleticism so he’ll probably get be able to generate more blocks be able to you know but Jabari has better LIF so it’s like that Balancing Act but I do think these players can play together I think and that’s what’s Mo most important to me I think if if Matas continues to develop and and becomes a better shooter you can play him at the three or the or the four or even when shon’s off the floor uh you can move Jabari to the five and play Matas at the four with tar as well and really have this super uh uh switchable lineup that can guard up and down the lineup in a a very real way and I think that that you might want to add something like that those type of things and if he becomes like a Lamar odm type remember Lamar odm played off the bench as a Allstar Wing Off the Bench and so you know the rocket had Rockets have a glutton of talent you want to continue to continue to add to that talent that talent pool and kind of just let the cream rise to the top but there are cases where you have these All-Star level guys coming off your bench and I think the way Matas plays with energy the way he provides these auxiliary skills as a secondary Creator uh as secondary playmaker if he develops those things in a real way he can really help our team I’m really the the the most interesting thing to me about Matas is is his creation ability because if he can ever become good enough to be not just a secondary Creator and kind of that connective piece offensively cuz I feel like he needs those other skills to come to like he’s going to need the shooting to become real if he’s ever if he’s only ever good enough to be a secondary Creator but if he could get good enough to be a primary Creator even if the shooting doesn’t ever you know fully realize whatever then I think it provides some really interesting permutations because then you can think about you know different lineups different roster permutations where maybe you have a couple you know primarily scoring guards out there right like now Jaylen green has shown a lot of growth you know this past year in his development as a playmaker as a primary initiator offensively all that but just a guy to kind of take some of that pressure off of your primary initiators right we’ve we’ve seen we saw just this past season how difficult it was for the Rockets when they didn’t have one of Fred or Jaylen on the floor or even when it was just if it was only one of those guys on the floor then suddenly you’ve only got that one guy that you can put the ball in his hands and say go go create something for us and you can see how stagnant those offenses get hey we can we can highlight the NBA Finals right now and the you know the you know uh 03 hole that the Mavericks are in where offensively their only creators are Luca and Kyrie and that’s it right nobody else on that team can create at a high enough level to alleviate the pressure on those guys right they don’t have any other primary creators and so if Matas as a as a jumbo Wing if his creation ability is real I do like the that idea of him being able to kind of alleviate that pressure off of guys like jayen and cam who can kind of be your your your bucket Getters right and that’s kind of in the same boat very different players but that’s kind of where a men Thompson is sitting right now right where am men we kind of thought hey we’re drafting a point guard like this jumbo 67 insane athlete point guard but we don’t really know right now if his future is going to be as a primary ball handler and primary offensive initiator whereas because right now the Rockets used him as a connective piece this entire last season yeah I mean I think that’s a great thing and I thought I think the Dallas Mavericks was a a great example but we can even Parry that with the Boston Celtics on how almost all five of their starters are able to pump fake drive it into the paint and make a play for one another and kick the ball to another guys if you we may not need another primary initiator if everybody can do a little bit of something of creation for for one another and I think that’s one of the things that Matas does I think these this this new attention to dribble p pass shoot guys with size right that is the where the NBA is trying to shift to it’s What with the with the OK Oklahoma City has been Drafting and I think when you add a guy who can who can do all these auxiliary skills once he gets good enough at an NBA level at all these skills he’s not going to have any weaknesses and he’s going to be able to fit with multiple players on your team and I think that’s the sell for Matas that’s the sell for his archetype and that is why I think he’d be an excellent pick and consideration for the rockets at three on that note you know the drill Madison let everybody know where to track you down at yeah you can come find me on Twitter at madman leaks come talk Rockets basketball and NBA draft that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets how would you feel if the Rockets selected Matas buellis with the number three overall selection give us your thoughts in the YouTube comments but as always thank you so 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Matas Buzelis Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Strengths, Weaknesses, Fit & More
Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost and NBA Draft enthusiast Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) to break down and discuss Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft Prospect Matas Buzelis from the G League Ignite, highlighting strengths (size, passing) and weaknesses (shooting, speed), possible NBA comps, how his skills will translate to the NBA level, fit with the Houston Rockets and more.
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13 Comments
MB is one of my favorite players in this draft
I really don‘t know what the best move for the team is this year, even tho it‘s a „weaker“ draft, i feel like there are alot of interesting prospects. And we can trade down or trade the pick for a player, alot of options. I am glad i am not the GM. That being said, reed sheppard is on top of my board.
For me Matas is one of those players that has a lot of upside and a player you would probably take a swing at with the third pick.
He can be good switchable defender and he a good weak side shot blocker he can also stretch the floor and he a good playmaker he can defintely play with Sengun Jabari Tari.
This is the type of player Stone likes as well.
Matas reminds me of Franz Wagner and Franz as he gets better is a border line and all star level player
One of the problems is it’s going to take some time with him so he probably won’t play as much because we are trying to win and we have too many wings even though Matas can be stretch 4.
Matas would be a swing pick but I don’t think the rockets would pick him at 3. I would be shocked if they did.
Most likeky Matas will probably be going to Detroit because they need a stretch four badly and once Matas gets that shooting down he would fit nicely next to Cade Ivy Duren and Asuar
Gotta take a 3point shooter
Buzellis up side is way higher than sheppard
He will be allstar sheppard not so much
He’s okay ~Scola voice
How valuable is the third pick in the draft? Looking at the last seven years.
Scoot Henderson
Jabari Smith
Evan Mobley
LaMelo Ball
RJ Barrett
Luka Doncic
Jason Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Keep in mind that Doncic, Tatum and Brown are in their primes. In a down draft year as many claim, the top picks are worth more to ensure a quality player. However, this is not really a down year. Just a year where the talent is less discernible. #10 maybe better than #1. Rockets smart pick is see who falls to them at three. Roll the dice on Brooklyn one more year with next year's swap. After next year Brooklyn will be coming off Simmons contract and have flexibility to improve. Something they really can not do without draft picks this year.
After this season, the Rockets will have a better idea how the kids are panning out. The trade deadline in the next season is the time to start thinking about upgrades. Further, the Nets will be more open to trading Bridges who is a slight upgrade over Brooks.
Büzelis has Franz upside
The things I would do to have him on the rockets…. Diabolical things..
Robert Horry/Tony Kukoc comp (high side)?
Sam Decker had some highlights for us
Good pod guys. I'm not that high on this guy. he's definitely not in play at #3. IMO its going to take a lot of developement on this guy to get him to the point where we can use him. when I watched him my 1st thought was Austin Reaves, and the last thing the Rockets need is Austin Reaves. there are at least 10 to 12 prospects clearly better than him IMO