All eyes on Matas Buzelis as ceiling remains sky high for the forward
He’s moonlighted as a special correspondent for the NBA during the Finals, he was the Bulls’ good luck charm at the draft lottery, and this past week he played fashion model, showing off the Michael Jordan-era pinstripes that the team will wear this upcoming season.
Matas Buzelis is everywhere, as it’s becoming more and more obvious that the franchise needs him to become everything.
“He has so much skill in his bag,” executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said of Buzelis at the end of his rookie campaign. “Shooting threes, blocking shots, running the break, dunking the ball, he’s athletic, he can put it on the floor, create for others, so we’ve seen a lot of it.”
But Karnisovas knows that if his second rebuild is going to have any real legs to it they need to belong to his athletic 20-year-old forward. So far so good this offseason.
Buzelis got in the weightroom right away in the spring, was a force when the team had voluntary workouts in Los Angeles back in May, and then took to being a secondary ball-handler in Las Vegas, playing in two Summer League games and averaging 22.5 points and five rebounds.
Since Vegas it’s been more weight room and back in the lab to continue evolving his game. By all accounts, Buzelis wants to be a special player and is doing what it takes to stay on that track.
“He wants to be coached, he wants to be coached hard, and he wants to be accountable,” Karnisovas said.
That was on display throughout Buzelis’ rookie campaign.
Buzelis began the season fighting for minutes off the bench like they were scraps. Just under five minutes in the season-opening loss in New Orleans, nine minutes against the Bucks, 7:07 against Oklahoma City, under three minutes in Memphis, 4:06 against the Magic, and then a DNP (Did Not Play) Coach’s Decision in Brooklyn.
Tough love from Billy Donovan, and challenge accepted.
Buzelis watched his November minutes increase to 12.9 per game, was up to 16.5 minutes per game through December, and by February became a starter. The 11th overall pick never looked back. In his 31 starts Buzelis averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, saving his best work for last.
In his final 12 games – including the play-in loss to Miami – Buzelis averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, while shooting 53.2% from the field and a team-best 50% from three-point range.
There’s a reason that ESPN just listed Buzelis as No. 4 on a list of “Most Interesting Sophomores to Watch” heading into the 2025-26 season, nestled behind Zaccharie Risacher, Stephon Castle and Reed Sheppard, but when breaking down those four players it’s easy to see why Buzelis could be carrying the most pressure and emerge as the top player in the class.
Risacher is still playing second fiddle to the likes of Trae Young and Dyson Daniels in Atlanta, Castle could become a reserve with De’Aaron Fox the veteran ball-handler and rookie Dylan Harper in the mix, while Sheppard could flash, but is still a bit player behind Kevin Durant, Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun.
Buzelis is the Bulls as of now.
With contract uncertainty still swirling around Coby White and Josh Giddey, there is no player on the roster more important to Karnisovas’ stained legacy as Buzelis.
Rightfully so.
Six-foot-10 forwards aren’t supposed to have the all-around skill set that Buzelis has. There’s no reason that by the 2026-27 season, Buzelis is not leading the Bulls in scoring, field goal percentage and blocked shots, while emerging as the top wing defender/rim protector on the roster.
And what the Bulls should also be embracing is that Buzelis has the swagger to back his game.
He’s gone from soft-talking, awkward rookie in his media sessions to a guy that oozes personality, making that transition quickly.
“He wants to be great,” teammate Ayo Dosunmu said of Buzelis back in May.
Karnisovas and the Bulls need him to be.