Which Player From the 2024 NBA Draft Class Is Going to Win Rookie of the Year?
The NBA Rookie of the Year Award is one of the most prestigious awards in the NBA. Every season over 60 rookies compete for a chance at the award but only one can come out victorious. According to FanDuel sportsbook, the three rookies with the best odds for Rookie of the Year are Zach Edey (+600), Reed Sheppard (+700), and Zaccharie Risacher (+800). All these players are great options but, in my opinion, they aren’t the best option for the award. The best option and winner of this year's Rookie of the Year award will be Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis.
Buzelis was supposed to be drafted anywhere from second to eighth but ended up falling all the way down to his hometown team the Chicago Bulls. The 6’10 forward has guard-like skills and plays a lot like the 2021-22 All-Rookie team member Franz Wagner. Apparently, Buzelis fell in the draft because of his lack of jump shooting, strength, and on-ball creation. In five summer league games, Buzelis averaged 16 points, two blocks, two steals, and four rebounds per game. His 16 points per game ranked in the top five among rookies which was something most didn’t expect. Buzelis struggled from the three-point line making only 21 percent of his attempts but his jumper does look fluid. I also believe his three-point percentage was this low because of the overall quality of the attempts. Buzelis has a quick trigger, and it seems like he fits under the “he has never met a shot he didn’t like” group. Besides his three-point percentage, his offense was great, and I believe he can help Chicago tremendously on that side of the ball.
For Buzelis to win the Rookie of the Year Award two things must happen. For starters, the Bulls have to trade Zach Lavine and Nikola Vučević. It’s no secret that to win this award you have to score points. With Zach and Nikola taking a majority of the shots, it will be borderline impossible for Buzelis to win. Fortunately for Buzelis, both these players have been rumored to be traded and it’s very likely that when they are traded Buzelis will start. The other thing that must happen is that Buzelis has to take smarter shots. I watched all six of his summer league games and something I noticed was that he was overaggressive. Every time he touched the ball it felt like he was going to attempt a shot. Being aggressive and confident in your game is important for all NBA players but to win the award he has to pull it back a little.
The Bulls acquired Josh Giddey from the Oklahoma City Thunder and I believe it will help Buzelis in his transition. Giddey is a pass-first guard who can average eight to 10 assists per game as long as the ball is in his hands. Buzelis should be able to get easy points just because of Giddeys’ gravity and it should be a fun duo heading into the season. If I were a betting man, I would seriously consider taking Buzelis at +1000 to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
