Bulls forward Matas Buzelis said he always gets a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) this time of year, with March Madness in full swing.“Maybe in another life,” Buzelis said of playing college basketball. “Hopefully some of the teams that I wanted to go to are contending to win.”Buzelis never got a taste of the madness, opting for an untraditional route to the pros. After high school, he went straight to G League Ignite, a development team that allowed elite draft prospects to compete against professional competition.Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga and Buzelis’ Bulls teammate Leonard Miller are two notable Ignite alums, but the NBA shut the team down in 2024.Still, the experience worked for Buzelis, who is now one of the rising players from the 2024 draft class. His improvement has been one of the few bright spots for the Bulls this season.Buzelis has nearly doubled his scoring average from his rookie year to 16.1 points per game. Just as important, his impact as a rim protector has reached a new level. His 105 blocks rank sixth in the NBA.“The most impressive players to me are the guys that can play both sides [of the ball] at an elite level,” Buzelis said at shootaround. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m taking strides, but I have a lot to learn.”With his size, shot creation and rim protection, Buzelis has the tools of a perennial All-Star. The Bulls future may hinge on him taking that leap in the coming years.In…
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