Training camp was far from the first time Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson linked up.
The Chicago Bulls’ third-year wing seemingly took the recent No. 4 overall pick under his wing this offseason. Fans saw them pop up together at a pair of local runs, as well as behind the home dugout at Wrigley Field. The chemistry-building appeared to start immediately, and it’s unsurprisingly led to some friendly competition at training camp.
“He feels like my brother, bro. He feels like my twin,” Buzelis said this week.
Much like two young brothers, however, they can’t stop going at each other. Tiago Splitter has run his fair share of five-on-five action throughout camp. While Buzelis and Wilson have spent time on the same team, they have also been pitted against one another multiple times.
According to Buzelis, it’s in these moments that both can take a step in the right direction.
“We can try to kill each other on the court. That’s how we’re going to get better,” Buzelis said. “If we’re going to mess around, let each other score, that’s not going to get us to the level we need to be at.”
Wilson only echoed Buzelis. Praising his new teammate, Wilson sounded thrilled to have a player with a similar mold to attack in practices. He was long considered the most competitive player in the draft, and everyone on the Bulls is learning just how true that is.
“We can just go at each other. We’re both young. We both have a lot of energy. We’re both athletic,” Wilson said. “We’re great to compete against each other. It’s really fun because competing with your friend is really fun … We go really hard, though, whenever we play against each other and with each other. It’s just really competitive.”
Now, there is something to be said about keeping things cordial. The thing about brothers is that they often end up in timeout. You don’t want a battle for Mom and Dad’s attention to turn into a full-blown shoving match. There is also no denying that Wilson and Buzelis have some overlapping skills on the court. Splitter will have to decide who to lean on in certain situations – let alone carefully craft his rotation to put each in a position to succeed.
The two youngsters aren’t feeding into that narrative, however. Buzelis insisted that the two players will figure out how to bring out the best in one another. In fact, it already sounds like they’re doing just that when donning the same pinnie.
“We just know where we’re at on the court,” Buzelis said. “We don’t really have to play to one’s strengths. We can do everything on the court, and that is what simplifies it for both of us.”
Of course, proving that they can coexist at a high-level will be a year-long journey. This period is bound to come with some ups and downs. The good news, however, is that they each sound more than willing to put in the leg work. After all, brothers always have each other’s backs.
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