Bulls forward Matas Buzelis has set lofty goals — including making an All-Defensive team and winning the Most Improved Player award — for his second season, but he’s not only interested in individual accolades and says he’s willing to do whatever is necessary for the team to be successful, according to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.
“I think I can be a go-to guy,” Buzelis said. “But at the end of the day it comes down to whatever the team needs to win the games. The NBA now, it’s positionless. So whoever has a heater, whoever’s playing extremely well, that’s who we’re going to go to. It’s a team sport. If it’s my night, it’s my night. If it’s not, I’m going to have to do the dirty work and rebound, defend as hard as possible, do the little things to impact the game.”
As Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes, head coach Billy Donovan admits he was hard on Buzelis during his rookie campaign. Rather than be upset by being pulled from games for his mistakes, Buzelis accepted his imperfections and remained driven yet humble — an approach Donovan thinks will serve the 21-year-old well, both now and going forward.
“It’s about Matas keeping himself grounded and driven,” Donovan said. “He has not arrived. He just hasn’t. And that’s just the truth. And I love Matas and think he’s got an unbelievable runway to be an outstanding player in this league if he keeps his drive and his motivation and doesn’t think he’s arrived. The great ones are always driven, regardless of what’s going on around them.”
Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic and Drew Stevens of The Bigs Media (Twitter links) share additional quotes from Donovan looking to temper expectations for Buzelis as well as areas of growth he hopes to see from the Chicago native, who was selected 11th overall in the 2024 draft.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- While much of the media attention has been on Buzelis lately, veteran center Nikola Vucevic was the team’s top performer in Wednesday’s season-opening win over Detroit, per Lorenzi of The Athletic, finishing with 28 points and 14 rebounds and at least temporarily putting to rest any lingering concerns about how the 35-year-old might fit as the elder statesman on a young roster.
- Poe of The Chicago Tribune shares her takeaways from Wednesday’s victory, including that No. 12 overall pick Noa Essengue was completely out of the rotation.
- In a column for The Chicago Tribune, Paul Sullivan argues the Bulls can exceed expectations, be a fun team to watch, and win around 44 games this season if they play better against their Central Division rivals, perform better at home, and “do the little things that win games.”