Matas Buzelis: The Number That Has To Move

Full workload. Buzelis played 77 games last season, tied for the heaviest workload on the roster, at 29.2 minutes a night. The counting stats: 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists. That workload isn't a bench role, it's a starting forward's job.

The efficiency case. He shot 46.3 percent from the field and 34.9 percent on 6.4 three-point attempts a game, plus 78.6 percent from the line. A true shooting mark of 58.6 percent says the touch is real; a usage rate of 22.3 percent says the ball found him often.

The other number. On defense, Chicago allowed 116.9 points per hundred possessions with Buzelis on the floor, well worse than the offensive end's 110.6. The net swung to minus-6.3, the same direction as the team's minus-5.3 mark overall.

Where it broke down. In a Yabusele-Okoro-Jones-Giddey-Buzelis five last season, spread over 8 games and 61 minutes, the net rating cratered to minus-9.9, with the defense allowing 114.4. Without a scoring option playing off him, Buzelis and that unit couldn't find offense either, at 104.5.

The extension math. Buzelis is playing on his rookie deal, $5.7 million this year and $7.6 million next, with restricted free agency on the horizon. Every point of that net rating between now and then sets the price.

Nothing to watch. Buzelis isn't on the injury list, the rare Bulls forward without a tag attached this month, while four teammates carry designations into training camp with return dates already set for October 1.

What year three needs. Second-year growth has to come on the end that hasn't shown up yet: the defense. A 16-point scorer with a minus-6.3 net rating is a solid role player. A plus number turns him into a building block instead.