Chicago Bulls select Matas Buzelis 11th overall in 2024 NBA Draft

Chicago Bulls select Matas Buzelis 11th overall in 2024 NBA Draft

[Music] the Chicago Bulls have drafted Matas buellis number 11 overall in last night’s first round of the 2024 NBA draft and we are here to react to the draft pick to what uh our tour said afterwards we’re all here we got you covered this is the bull St podcast brought to you by Toyota Let’s Go places and along with me today is KC Johnson Bulls Insider who was there had all the sights and sounds at the uh The Advocate CER last night because they couldn’t use the United CER uh for other reasons but KC we’re here the Bulls have made their pick we thought they maybe they trade up maybe they trade back but in the end they stay put and drafted a 69 Swingman the local kid we get we probably get a chance to hear from Chicago again kind of maybe I don’t know depending and he’s Lithuania he buried the lead man shares shares the same country as uh Homeland country is our tourist carnus so uh it’s all happening look uh people are already asking like is this guy a good player and I always say like at this point obviously I have no idea what I do know is when you add a 19yearold uh on top of you know five days after adding a 21y old uh you’re making the Long play here and it certainly to me signals kind of a change in Direction um our tourists wouldn’t fully commit to calling this a youth movement or even a rebuild uh in his uh post-draft remarks um but it’s certainly trending that way uh particularly with when you factoring what he said about demard de rosen’s future which we’ll get into in a little bit um but uh yeah all of a sudden you’ve got a very um young roster that needs a lot of development um and I again T downplayed this but I do think part of this beyond the fact that you know he said changes were coming in the core the group isn’t working and obviously they’ been chasing and stuck in mediocrity for a while I do think the fact that the 2025 pick is top 10 protected to San Antonio is coming into play with with some of these um decisions that they’re making uh obviously they still could try to take a step back can still forfeit that pick because a lot of teams in the East particularly in the East are are trying to tank um and are young and rebuilding but look the Bulls are are definitely there there’s a there’s an organizational shift going on and I think uh balis is just kind of the the latest uh indicator of that yeah I mean now I’m looking at actions you know versus kind of what he’s saying and when you have uh you know a top 15 pick that I would say I don’t I don’t hate the pick I will say that like I from all the mocks I didn’t consider Matas because I thought he would be taken before exactly to be honest um so for him to fall to 11 which is something you know I want to ask you why do you think that happened but for him to fall to to 11 I thought was like okay this is cool um but also when you take him it’s almost and I hope this isn’t understanding because we thought when they drafted Patrick Williams that there will be room for him to grow to see what he can do and that just I don’t think that opportunity ever came to fruition but when you again you trade your one of your best assets for a young guy in 20 who’s 21 and then you draft a 19yearold um it it looked I know may not use the word but we’ll just say it looks like you’re taking a step back it looks like you’re taking a step back and giving this this youth movement some time to kind of figure out who they are and and what they’re going to be uh together uh once you figure out what’s going to happen with Patrick Williams I mean another under 23 year old um that that’s what it feels like and that that’s okay um I like the pick I like uh what he does I like his length um I like what he does defensively here’s here’s a key because I don’t expect the ball to be in his hands instantly once he comes to the court what I like is his off the ball movement on both ends of the floor and I think that is key for a rookie that is that wants to play when he when he gets to the NBA but unless you’re the number one overall pick you most likely won’t get the ball a whole lot on offense can you still impact games and that was the issue early with Patrick Williams was can he impact games when he’s not force fed anything uh and we saw that a little bit defensively with with Patrick Williams but I think we’re really gonna feel that with Matas because looking at his tape looking at his film looking at what he does he has no problem cutting slashing getting getting to the rim being a connecting piece uh off off a pick and roll to pass to somewhere else he knows what to do in those situations and I’m I’m excited to see what that looks like yeah those are all good points Tony and I would say that one thing that jumped out to me I asked him what strengths and weakness what strengths he thought would translate to the NBA what weaknesses did he think he needed to work on and one of the strengths he cited which kind of jumped out to me was um being a good teammate I like I like answers like that particularly coming from a kid who’s 19 I think that shows really good self-awareness um and you know you you tie that in with the on the court stuff that you mentioned the cutting ability look there’s a lot of potential for for him um you also make a really good point in the sense that I mean we have not said his name one time on this podcast in any of my articles because nobody expected him to be available at number 11 we were actually very lucky that our colleague and cooworker Ryan Taylor took the initiative in March uh he stumbled upon an opportunity to get m m uh one-on-one um and so we had a full one-on-one interview and video of of him from back in March when he was projected to be a top five pick which we were able to post right after the Bulls drafted him but the reason I’m bringing all this up is that the Bulls philosophy as as I did mention that and you mentioned that they both try to trade up and trade back they ultimately decided that somebody that they really liked was going to fall to the middle 11 and the philosophy played out EX ex actly how they predicted um I do know they were high on Ron Holland who went all the way up to five to the Pistons um but you know buis being available at 11 when he was projected to be top six um you know kind of underscores how the Bulls philosophical approach the draft worked out and now the kids got to get to work and and take advantage of his opportunities on the court why do you think he did fall as far as he did when literally every mock draft had him going top six uh and and obviously teams you know we we knew going in that this was going to be a very very fluid draft nobody knew who was going to go number one that impacted the rest of the draft um people trading back up you know in between it it we knew that it was possibility but one of the more stable things was we thought he was going top six but but how did he slip to 11 yeah so great question I actually plan to do a little bit more reporting on that today uh everyone’s pretty busy last night and I was the way I was going to try to report that was to talk to other teams uh you know guys I know from other teams I will say I did text one team um last night um they got back to me and kind of the the answer I got is that and this is just his perspective because he he really likes the player and the pick um but his perspective is that um he’s he maybe isn’t one of those guys who stands out in any one Department he just kind of does everything at a really nice level but doesn’t like wow with one particular thing he’s you know a good rebound a good shot blocker he plays in transition he can shoot it but obviously had a poor shooting season last year and then maybe his frame you don’t need to get stronger um there are some people are worried that he’s going to be able to be strong enough to play at this level um but he’s got two-way potential I mean he pointed out his defense in his remarks to us and and his shot blocking ability um so I think he’s just I think some some people might think that he’s kind of Jack of all trades expert at none um but look this is why you’re uh the draft is so fraught with Peril I mean you’re banking on a 19-year old kid reaching his potential and becoming the fullest version of himself um I did like his work ethic answers it sounds like he’s a serious-minded competitive kid so now it’s on him to to reward the Bulls for their faith that they showed him it seemed like it mattered to him as well that he stays home um Hometown kid hensdale got Chicago area uh hensdale that’s why I mentioned like if he starts I don’t know we’ll be able to hear from Chicago because he’s from Hinsdale uh but but when he got drafted I mean he’s crying um you know did the interview with Monica mcnut just couldn’t get you know all the all the answers out but uh it seemed like it really truly mattered to him that he plays for for Chicago and mentioning that I don’t know if you asked the question Casey but him saying Dereck Rose was a huge influence on uh how he plays and uh the amount of trash that he talks uh that that was brought up that I saw that I saw come across he feels like a like a Chicago area player um how much did it mean to him in in your opinion that he stays here and Chicago is the team that he’ll be playing for yeah I mean he he told us he he couldn’t believe it I mean he he did have a private workout for the Bulls in in Los Angeles but I think like everybody else he didn’t expect to be available at 11 so he was completely caught off guard by it very emotional moment for him and his family um yeah he’s thrilled and and talked about the impact that Derrick Rose had on the city as he was growing up so it’s it’s storybook stuff right I mean obviously the Bulls have had that with I dumu and now you’ve got another level of that with with buis so um you know that kind of stuff is neat um but at the end of the day obviously he’s got to get on the court and take advantage of opportunity um but yeah it’s uh you know I’ve covered a lot of guys who played for their Hometown teams dating back to to uh Randy Brown from the Dynasty and uh Eddie Curry and yeah I can name a bunch of them but there’s always something special about guys who who play for their Hometown Bulls they they understand what this Fran this uh Team means to the city and obviously the the worldwide recognition this franchise and brand has and uh you know it’s you grow up watching that team and then you get to play for it it’s a thrill so that that is a cool aspect of the story for sure now what’s the connection between you you already mentioned uh that Urus and Matas they’re half you know they’re Lithuanian um but he did mention that he knew his father um so what what’s the connection you know out outside of them just both being from Lithuania what’s the the deeper connection yeah both Modis and uh and and urist kind of downplayed that uh they don’t know each other well and in fact arur doesn’t even know the father well obviously they know each other because Lithia is a small country and uh the father has professional basketball ties um I was actually surprised our tus didn’t kind of wasn’t more fusive about that or I I you know I I again it’s a it’s a basketball mad country it’s a very small country there is I haven’t I don’t even know the age difference I don’t know his father’s age um Urus is in his uh early 50s um so I thought there’d be a little bit more Buzz to that but um you know there was a thing that the Bulls posted on the social media where at the end of uh uris’s cell phone call out to Modis once they drafted him out in New York you know he close by speaking Lithuanian to him I mean that you know that doesn’t that doesn’t happen very often so that’s that’s kind of cool um anyway it’s uh it’s definitely a it’s definitely a a lot of cool angles to this off the court and now on the court uh you know he’s got to he’s got to put in the work to get better and it sounds like he’s going to he’s willing to do that I got one more question and then uh you can kind of say what whatever whatever else you found uh last night in your reporting and and speaking to uh Monas but uh one more question for me on Monas was uh I can’t remember who ask a question but it seems like there’s some Duality with Patrick and him um in terms of how they play where they’re going to play all things of that nature now turus didn’t seem uh moved by uh adding him to this roster with Patrick Williams on the team he mentioned that the league uh this is what the league looks like a bunch of Swing guys that that is very switchable um but what do you think in terms of of adding that Dynamic to Patrick Williams obviously he’s not on the roster yet but the Bulls are still they still are uh key in on Patrick and having him return um do you think there is a little bit of a a competition seems like Patrick has to come in every year and have to compete uh for for his starting role and here we are again with uh somebody that could possibly play his position well look I mean the Bulls roster is very inbalance unbalanced I mean it’s got way too many guards and not enough forward so in that regard you know I don’t see any problem with this at all and then the other thing I would say is and I want to emphasize I’m not making this comp because one team is chasing a championship another team looks like it’s going on a youth movement but look what the Knicks are doing all they’re doing is loading up on wings it’s a wing heavy League you just saw Boston obviously when the championship built on wings um you know and now with the Knicks acquiring bridges on top of anobi and Josh hardt and and everybody they’ve got there um you know that’s kind of the where the league is headed so um if Patrick Williams is back he’s going to be starting and buis is a is a project you know and the fact that they added somebody who’s not a guard I think is progress because they’ve got so many Cs and uh I I know it’s a position this league but you do need size this guy’s 69 um can jump block shot so uh more the marrier as far as I’m concerned uh do you have anything else on Abus sales before we move on to our tourist’s comments no um you know it’s just we kind of covered it all it’s clearly you know it just resonated how impactful playing for the Bulls will be for him um and I I just keep coming back to how you know he said whatever the coach ask me do I’m willing to do he just sounds like a very hardworking humble kid who’s uh you know the other thing you hear you he didn’t this didn’t come out much last night the other thing you hear about him because last night you got the humble side of him but the other thing you hear about him is he’s a big smack talker and he’s got Edge to him and um you did hear that maybe a little bit when he was talking about his decision to play for G League ignite I mean he kind of got like hey we were playing as grown men and we were getting crushed but we were coming at them I mean you kind of got a little bit of that edge to them but that’s when you hear by all accounts he’s kind of a got that Competitive Edge and this is kind of a smack talker so um I think that’ll probably come out more maybe out in summer league or as we move forward into training camp and stuff like that I’m glad you mentioned that uh more more put more emphasis on that because I I think that’s also a piece that the Bulls needed a little bit um like they needed a a more Brash guy uh that can move the team in in in that way it may get get them in some trouble for you know a little bit at certain times you know being young but I think that helps overall having a guy with that edge with that competitive fire and then will let you know about it that he’s coming right back at you and not being able to stand down and there are times where you know frustrations will arise on this team and there there would be a flagrant foul or there would be an unnecessary foul instead of having the Competitive Edge to kind of fight on the court in the midst of the game and I thought that is a personality piece that is that was missing on this roster that I’m glad that he’s bringing yeah I mean again he’s 19 so uh I think he’s gonna have more humble moments than smack talking moments but uh uh yeah I mean if that’s his personality and he starts to reach his potential that’s going to come out more and more and the other thing is I I did ask him about this because I had read in his awesome interview with Ryan Taylor from from on our site from back in March that he cited J.R Smith as somebody admired and I was like that is not a name you hear very often particularly from a 19-year-old J.R Smith so I asked him about it and he said I loved his answer to that he said I’m a basketball head and I watch a lot of players and and J.R Smith has just Happ one one that happened to resonate with him and you know J.R Smith certainly had a competitive uh Edge to him uh and you know had a little Cockiness to him in a good way I’m not saying that critically so uh let’s let’s go let’s see that man let’s go all right U moving on to a tourist uh hasn’t spoken since all these moves has happened coaching changes trades all that um and to the media’s credit and to his credit he sat and answered All Those Questions uh last night uh so I guess I’ll start out with this uh Casey what were your impressions on uh the reasonings why he went about trading Alex Caruso and warning specifically Josh kiddy yeah uh before I get into that I mean to me the the you got a lead with to me the most telling moment of the entire night was his public stance shifting a little bit on demaro rosan I mean he’s been absolutely adamant about resigning him in every public encounter until last night when he said it’s an option that’s how he phrased it which is very soft uh shoe of of the of a story that’s really kind of developing in real time I mean there have not been uh any pro there’s not been any progress in negotiations as of you always got to make things fluid because all it takes is one phone call but as of 9:00 am on June 27th there’s been no progress in in their exclusive negotiation period so it does appear that demaro Rosen is headed unrestricted free agency and I thought uh uris’s less uh committal stance about his future with the bulls um was very telling um yeah it was good to hear him detail the Josh giddy trade and um obviously the the selection of balis um and you know he’s attracted to players that uh not only are young because one’s 21 and 19 but are Dynamic um in in giddy’s case he’s obviously got three years of productive NBA Seasons under his belt he talked about his playmaking ability he talked about his rebounding he said that’s something we need to improve and and you know that is definitely a a tradeit of giddes that that stands out is from his position at 68 to be able to grab and go as often as he does is something I think can help the Bulls um he was asked about you know not getting draft capital from the Thunder and he called it a fair deal um you know again I’ve talked to people who have said that you know with giddy being nine years younger and um he’s starting 80 games for the number one seed I don’t think the rest of the league views this tradeit as unbalanced as some other people do um you know obviously it would been nice to get one piece of draft Capital but they it’s clear the Bulls targeted this player they turned down offers of draft capital from other teams it’s clear they targeted this player and you know it’s our tur has drawn to these types of players Lonzo ball was one of his first major Acquisitions and now you’ve pivoted with his medical future in question and acquired Giddy and you see kind of the same potential for dynamic floor leading floor floor leading ability minus the shooting and the defense that Lonzo brings we need to point that out but our CH talked about the potential for improvement obviously in both those departments for giddy so um you know talked at length about it and is clearly excited about the move and he knows he gave up a a valuable piece in getting him I mean he obviously acknowledged what cuso has done for the city in this franchise the last three years obviously a huge fan favorite with the way he played how hard he played um so uh it’s a it’s a high-profile trade with two well-known names and uh I think both he players are on franchises that kind of fit their timelines a little bit better when uh he mentioned the reasonings behind not going after picks um you think he just wanted more of a of a sheer fire option with trading Alex Caruso when giddy was made made available versus you know let’s say getting a first round pick or you know a couple first round picks um for Alex it just seems like he look I know that this he’s got he’s young and he started for three seasons so I know what he is and what we can do to help improve him it seemed like he valued that more than the uncertainty of of a draft pick which yeah K irk a lot of fans because picks are valuable uh but him choosing to go that way it seems like he wanted more of a a more of a shity with that trade well and and again targeting this specific player I mean this to me is you know the Lonzo ball replacement I mean you know obviously uh Ur spoke about lonzo’s progress last last night as well and said he still remains on track and our tourists is expecting him as I’ve been writing and Reporting all along the Bulls are expecting Lonzo to attempt a come back next season but he’s not going to be able to be two and a half years out of the league and um regain the level instantly that that he had and his contract expiring so uh however he sles this this this is Alonzo ball replacement and so so beyond the draft Capital which you know you can quibble and argue all night long I mean this is a player that they targeted this is the type of player and dynamic floor leader that he initially saw in Lonzo ball when he went and got him in August of 2021 and now seas in Josh giddy by trading Alice Caruso for him so and again the fact that he’s 21 to me is significant because I do feel like the Bulls are leading into the youth and the development that that needs to happen on this roster as they move into a new iteration of of this roster now the next uh you know think you’ve already mentioned it but you know Demar de rozan um I think when I when I heard him you know say that and again I’m trying to view this in context the assets have already been held too long already so now it’s like okay what do you do now you already spilled the milk you can’t just try and put the milk back right like you got to operate now from the position that there’s spilled milk and it needs to be cleaned up so with that pivot to it’s an option versus it’s a priority or we want them back it’s on the list of things that we want to do this off season I had to deny myself that instant urge of like you let him go into unrestricted free agency without getting anything for him which still could be a possibility they could do a signing trade that’s still an option but I had to deny myself that part of my brain to come alive and realize that okay from this point on if this is the youth movement the next move is to get one of the Elder more uh ball Centric guys out of here to change the culture not in a not that he was a negative impact on the culture but it’s going to be centered around him and not given enough space and room for these younger guys to kind of grow and learn together um as their own thing at this point it seems like that’s more important than anything if they can’t work out a deal that would benefit the Bulls in terms of their timeline uh as well and having him uh walk isn’t the the worst thing in the world even if they should have traed him you know a season or two ago uh but we’re here now so when you heard him say that KC that it’s an option and it seems the mood is pivoted uh what were your thoughts as Artur said that and he was pretty joyful like not joyful but like he played a little bit smiled a lot last night but when he answered that question it was it’s an option and then that was it yeah and I mean there’s lots of ways you can read it to me I mean again I said this kind of the the last podcast I know everybody wants immediate answers and uh definitive action but you know this is one time where what our chch said is true you got to wait and see how free agency plays out and um and then they’ll be able to kind of declare fully where they’re going directionally I mean what if Demar de R rozan doesn’t have a lot of interest in free agency and the Bulls are able to resign them at a number that really really makes sense for them I mean there is an option where he return turns which is what arur said I just think it’s notable that it’s no longer that that’s the priority you know the priority all along has been trading Zack LaVine the alas Caruso trade got in line in front of that um so yeah I mean I do think this is a franchise in flux but we do need to kind of wait to see how freeny plays out before we fully declare where what the Bulls are doing I should also point out you know when I said before like the the 20 25 pick I think is coming into play a little bit even though our tourist downplayed a question about that and trying to keep that is it’s going to be hard to do that it’s GNA be hard to finish bottom 10 of the league you look at around the East there a lot of teams are in the young rebuilding phase in the East there there’s three or four or five right off the top of my head and the East is kind of bad to begin with so um you know that’s why I think more steps need to be taken if you are trying to go into a full rebuild and that would would involve dear and Zach not being on this team that’s what if you that’s what we’ll know they’re fully Le leaning into it obviously um so we got to see how these next couple weeks play out I just know this even just by these two moves alone the Bulls are G to are are looking significantly different than they did last season that that is undeniable yeah yeah and I mean he has to right like he has to be thinking about that pick next year like he wouldn’t be doing his job and he downplayed it but he wouldn’t be doing his job if he wasn’t it’s an asset right that could be gone if the season works out in a different way right right um so of course he’s thinking about that like what any GM is thinking about retaining an asset versus letting one go especially when it depends on you it depends on how your team does um and that’s not really left up the chance I mean the guys still have to play the games but you you can set up a team where yeah they can be top 10 at the bottom uh of the NBA depending on how this goes and still get some benefit from it by saying hey we got a young team with the young guys and we want to make sure we get them going and and and and set them up properly um uh was there anything else that uh that atur said last night that kind of raised an eyebrow or you know brought to your attention was the Lonzo thing or or anything else no of the health guys I mean Lonzo and Zach kind of checked out I did find it telling that he wouldn’t fully commit to Patrick Williams being ready for training camp I mean he kind of went back and forth a little bit on that and wasn’t very expansive but um he he didn’t I think that was significant because to me it just only to me reinforces that I think Patrick’s going to be back with the bulls because I think they’ve all along felt like they’re in control and you know if he’s already had two surgeries ending four of his seasons and now possibly is taking a long time to reh rehab this latest one I don’t see a price tag getting too exorbitant and restricted free agency the Bulls won’t match and that’s even if he gets an offer sheet so I’ve said all along I think Patrick Williams is is likely to return and I I stand by that and certainly fits with this um philosophy that we’ve been discussing in terms of youth movement um so yeah that was kind of the only thing that jumped out only other thing that jumped out to me is of the health updates that Patrick Williams won was was the most uh intriguing because the Zach and Lonzo ones where they’re just kind of on on track Zach I reported this right from the start you know they said he’s gonna be out four to six months I was under the impression Zach was going to have a totally normal offseason and it sounds like he’s you know arity he’s been clear to do everything so he you know here we are late June and Zach’s been clear to do everything there was a picture of of him in the gym yesterday with Paulo Ben Carol didn’t I don’t know if he already worked out or if he was just in there he was in basketball gear um so you know Zach’s gonna be ready for uh training camp for whatever team he’s on next season whether that’s the Bulls or somebody else um do you expect Lonzo to be ready to go uh by training camp uh I said all along so here’s the thing about Lonzo um he is going to be cleared for five on five contact scrimmaging at some point this offseason we were told during the season that would be in August our tourists basically confirmed that I mean not he didn’t specifically say August but it sound like that’s still the plan and I’ve always said that’s the next step how he responds to that I mean the fact that he’s progressing like he is is a good sign and you certainly are wish hopeful for him because all he’s endured but until he can go through multiple contact five on five scrimmages you’re not going to know what his future holds and it sounds like he’s on track to take that step at some point this offseason all right casc the Bulls currently don’t have a second round pick uh second round is today uh at least not yet uh last year they traded back into the draft to pick up Julian Phillips and he has uh been an interesting piece and excited to see what he grows into uh this season but your projections for the Bulls for the second round today um well first of all I’m glad they currently don’t have a second round pick because I just found out this morning the draft is at 3:00 I just assumed it was at night because uh I’m told it’s uh in the afternoon because of the presidential debate um so I I was today years old when I found out that the second draft was in the afternoon so right it used to be afternoon yeah he used to be an NA old school so okay so I will readjust my uh schedule for today and and be ready in case the Bulls do trade into the second round I have not heard of any um buzz about that yet but I didn’t hear any Buzz about it last year when they when they got the DFT frights to Julian Phillips I will say one person I’ve written about a couple times and I interviewed at the combine and I personally is think is an intriguing Prospect is still on the board Kyle filipowski um surprisingly fell from The Green Room to the second round um everywhere I saw he was projected as a first round pick so bus do need a backup big man but uh I you know they don’t have a lot of draft Capital to uh to to uh to throw round to to get into the second round um but if they really like somebody they showed last year they’re willing to do so so we’ll see how it plays out and uh don’t think that deserves an emergency podcast if they get into the second round so if they do we’ll we pick we’ll catch you next time man all right so here’s our plan now we the Bulls don’t have a second round pick if they do we’ll talk about it on next week’s episode but now our focus is switching over to free agency um there’s going to be a lot of movement early on um our plan is to do another podcast early morning like we did today on Monday uh to react to all the free agency news over the weekend um I got a lot of stuff going on this weekend so there unless something crazy happens um crazy happens maybe a Zach TR we may do a emergency podcast I don’t know we’ll talk to KC uh and see if we can get that done but Monday morning uh we will have an early morning podcast ready for you to go uh for you guys to listen to react to all those things uh for free agency so that’s kind of where we shifting our Focus now that the Bulls have made their first round pick so we thank you guys for listening to this episode of the Bulls Talk podcast brought to you by Toyota Let’s go places for Casey Johnson I’m Tony Gil for the rest of the crew uh we appreciate you listening like subscribe follow do all those things we catch you guys next time peace all right now that’s over I want to tell you the three keys to being a real Chicago sports fan it takes guts sacrifice and downloading the NBC Sport Chicago app when there’s highlights you can pounce on them when there’s exclusive insight it you listen and take notes and you won’t get blindsided with the push alerts so download it

In this episode of the Bulls Talk Podcast, K.C. Johnson and Tony Gill dive into the Bulls’ latest draft pick, Matas Buzelis. They discuss if this marks the beginning of a youth movement by GM Artūras Karnišovas (0:30), break down Buzelis’ strengths and weaknesses (4:30) and explore why he was still available at the 11th pick (7:20). The duo also reacts to Karnišovas’ comments on the Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey trade and his pursuit of Giddey over draft picks (20:26). Additionally, they analyze the Bulls’ shift in strategy regarding DeMar DeRozan, now seen as an option rather than a priority (25:00). Finally, K.C. and Tony provide injury updates on Patrick Williams, Zach LaVine, and whether Lonzo Ball will be ready for training camp (30:00). Don’t miss this episode packed with insights and updates!

#2024NBADraft #MatasBuzelis #AlexCaruso #ZachLaVine #LonzoBall

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