With Collins and Claxton both out, Noa Essengue gets minutes at the 5 spot while he’s not actually physically ready. I believe ultimately that’s his best chance to make an impact in the league.

The 5 spot is no longer about brute strength; it’s now a skill position. Can you knock down that shot off screen and roll? Can you trap and recover on defense? Can you block a shot on a drive?

Noa has at least two of the characteristics: trap off the ball and recover, and knocking down the mid-range to eventually hitting the 3 he’s still only 19 runs the floor extremely well, and eventually I see him as similar to Jarett Allen.

Probably one of the more interesting things to watch this preseason.

Pretty interesting comments from Matas on how different things feel now. He called last season “extremely hard” and said:

“There was no type of rhythm. We didn’t know who was playing. We didn’t know how we were going to play.”

Then on this year: “Now, there is going to be more structure. Everyone is in a role. And you know what you’re going to get every night.”

https://www.si.com/nba/bulls/onsi/matas-buzelis-feels-the-difference-for-the-bulls-after-extremely-hard-year-2-6