The Chicago Bulls and, likely, most of their fans were thrilled when G League Ignite star Matas Buzelis fell to the 11th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Buzelis, a 20-year-old Illinois native, was listed in the top five of some mock drafts and certainly in the top 10 of just about all of them.
His poor shooting splits with the Ignite - 45/27/68 - left much to be desired and likely contributed to his slide on draft night. But the flashes of athleticism and explosiveness from a player listed at 6-foot-10, coupled with an aesthetically pleasing jump shot even if the percentages weren't great, pointed to a potential three-level scorer with massive upside.
To say Buzelis has gotten off to a slow start in the NBA is an understatement. Arguably, Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan hasn't done his prized rookie any favors by plastering him to the bench on most nights. He even had a temporary stint back in the G League.
But the more minutes Buzelis gets and the more mistakes he's allowed to play through, the more improvement Chicago sees from what is hopefully one of its foundational pieces going forward.
Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report handed out report cards for every NBA team's rookie class one month into the season, and considering what Buzelis has accomplished - or, maybe, hasn't accomplished - Hughes' grade was a bit of a relative shocker.
Matas Buzelis earns pleasantly surprising grade for rookie season so far
Admittedly, Buzelis played the best game of his career against the Memphis Grizzlies just four nights ago on Nov. 23. He scored a career-high 14 points in a career-high 29 minutes and finished a team-high +10.
He bookended that performance with a pair of nine-point outings, so he's scored 32 combined in his last three games.
Across all 18 games he's appeared in this season, though, he's averaging just 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 37 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three.
Not exactly jaw-dropping numbers.
Yet Hughes claims Buzelis deserves a C+ grade for his collective performance over the first month of his NBA career.
He mentions Buzelis' four total assists compared to 13 turnovers in the same breath as his eight steals and 11 blocks. He praises the rookie's pleasantly surprising 3-point stroke but adds that he's only making about 1 out of every 4 two-point attempts.
He finishes his critique of Buzelis with, "But hey, the three-ball looks good, and Buzelis is playing with visible confidence. That's a start."
Most comments that begin, "but hey," don't end with fantastical praise.
Buzelis has been average at best so far in his rookie campaign. By definition, that would give him a C grade. Between the flashes of potential have been defensive mishaps, turnovers, bricked shots and a general feeling of "he'll get there someday."
A C+ seems like an optimistic review of the Bulls' latest lottery pick, at least for right now.