Matas Buzelis has officially been added to the NBA’s Rising Stars event.
Tipping off All-Star Weekend Friday night at the Chase Center, the Chicago Bulls rookie was initially left off the 21-man roster. The NBA also invited four other players as injury replacements before giving Buzelis the call. However, with Yves Missi joining the list of injured players, Buzelis has finally been added to the big event.
The rookie will take the place of the Pelicans’ rookie big man on Team M, which Mitch Richmond will coach. He will suit up alongside Toumani Camara (Portland), Julian Strawther (Denver), Bub Carrington (Washington), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington), Amen Thompson (Houston), and Ausar Thompson (Detroit).
You can view the rosters for all four teams here.
Matas Buzelis: Rising Star ?Matas will compete tonight in the NBA’s Rising Stars game! pic.twitter.com/SqnlcA7GM4
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 14, 2025Matas Buzelis Joins Rising Stars Event
Of course, this will now serve as the first of two events for Matas Buzelis in San Francisco. The rookie was already in town to compete in Saturday night’s Slam Dunk Contest, serving as the Chicago Bulls’ lone representative at All-Star Weekend.
Friday night’s invite feels particularly warranted after the 20-year-old’s recent play. With Billy Donovan finally bumping up his minutes, Buzelis has scored double figures in eight straight games. He is averaging 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game over those last eight contests, and he’s also shot a very encouraging 59.7 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from downtown.
© David Banks-Imagn ImagesBuzelis has also been one of the league’s top rookie defenders. He leads the Bulls in total blocks this season (45) and ranks fifth among all first-year players DESPITE playing only the 16th-most minutes.
Nevertheless, Buzelis will be one of the most experienced players on the floor tonight. While he had yet to hear his name called on draft night, the forward actually did play in the game last season in Indianapolis. One of the four teams is made up of G League standouts, which happened to include Matas Buzelis in 2024 (who spent his pre-NBA season with the development G League Ignite team). He also made his presence felt during the event, nailing a game-winning jumper over Charlotte’s Brandon Miller to advance to the Finals.
Do it again, Matas!
Matas Buzelis hit the game-winner at this year’s Rising Stars event. And he did it over last year’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller. Dude played tough competition all year and left a mark. pic.twitter.com/h2tK45NBhY
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) June 27, 2024 Read More Details
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