Bulls’ Matas Buzelis still powering through Billy Donovan’s ongoing test

Posted December 12, 2025 3:51 pm

By Joel Lorenzi

Two games into his second NBA season, Matas Buzelis ambled to the bench early in a fourth quarter he should’ve molded. Before sitting, he bashed the seat beside him and wrestled with his shooting shirt in anguish.

It was an unwelcome, visibly uncomfortable retreat to where he spent most of a night in Orlando while in foul trouble. He earned his sixth whistle 14 seconds into his next entry. The young forward shifted in angst on the blue cushion beneath him. He bit down on a towel, the tick that signaled a loss of power for a player who expects the world of himself.

That night portended the tug-of-war he’d find himself in during the early goings of his sophomore season. The challenge of physically involving himself in games — and the short leash he’d wear in the act — building habits as a developing, hopeful NBA stud for a coach wired to chase wins regardless of his hand.

To some degree, these were Buzelis’ wishes. In his media day availability, he welcomed the trials that come with chasing potential: the expectations of becoming an All-Defensive player or one bold enough to pronounce his desire for Most Improved Player honors.

In his first 12 games, he turned in six games with four or more fouls. He’s seen contests he didn’t close, like in Chicago’s Nov. 10 home loss against the San Antonio Spurs and their gargantuan lineup. Or games he was quickly yanked from, like the Nov. 19 game at the Portland Trail Blazers, a game the Bulls won, but he played only 19 minutes. Or in New Orleans, when Buzelis on Nov. 24 was benched to start the second half for similar reasons.

Coach Billy Donovan does his best to temper Buzelis’ expectations.

“It’s more about Matas keeping himself grounded and driven,” Donovan told reporters earlier this season. “He has not arrived. He just hasn’t. That’s just the truth. And I love Matas, and I think he has 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. I think the great ones are always driven.”

Buzelis sits much higher on teams’ scouting reports than when he was simply hoping to stick in Donovan’s rotation. He can feel it.

“Most of the time, the best defender is guarding me,” Buzelis said. “That puts a target on my back, and I like that. That’s how I’m gonna get better and strive forward.”

Buzelis doesn’t feel blindsided. He sought guard Ayo Dosunmu, now in his fifth year, about the season-to-season shift from his fruitful rookie season. Dosunmu relayed that Buzelis wouldn’t catch teams by surprise and that they’d inspect his game with the detail it deserved.

Flashes of promise still squeezed their way into Buzelis’ first quarter of the season. The use of his length, his explosion, his nimble strides up the floor. His flaws also reared their heads: a handle too loose to frequently weave through traffic, a frame bigger forwards toss around like furniture, vulnerabilities on the glass and a tendency to lunge toward shots, even if it removes him from plays.

For a regime sworn to internal development and against tanking, Buzelis is a beacon of hope. Fans pray he’s polished. Prioritized. Properly nurtured, not neglected in favor of chasing the middle.

Buzelis’ development is fragile: the silent forces that mold him, the projections he’s invited, veteran voices like Nikola Vučević and Jevon Carter, habits — or lack thereof — being formed in Chicago’s recent skid.

Buzelis, despite being one of Chicago’s few enviable assets, isn’t being granted a blank canvas. Unlike Cooper Flagg in Dallas, this season is not Buzelis’ playground. With different expectations for their teams and respective players — the Bulls haven’t given up the framework suggesting they’d like to slowly build toward a playoff team — Chicago isn’t expediting Buzelis’ development the way Dallas is with Flagg. From jump, Flagg gunned a healthy diet of midrange jumpers and got tossed into the fire as a point guard on a team that lacked ballhandling.

Donovan, asked recently about his rationale for Buzelis’ proverbial leash: “If he’s playing well, he’s probably gonna get more minutes. If he’s not, then he’s probably not.”

Beyond him, the roster’s construction has undoubtedly played a role in Buzelis’ trajectory this season. The big man — more notably, the double-big lineup — has fully reclaimed its stake in the NBA. In the interim, it has begged the question of which forward spot Buzelis is meant to play. His best attributes lend to him growing as a mismatch four, leaning on agility and explosion. But he often shares lineups with three guards (and an easily penetrable perimeter defense) and is virtually always next to a center not regarded as physical on the interior or as an overbearing rim protector.

While he seeks ways to exact his physicality, Buzelis remains firm in his disposition that he doesn’t need to undergo a dramatic, Giannis Antetokounmpo-esque physical transformation to do so, preferring his celerity.

“There have been plenty of guys that maybe don’t have, or look like, the old-school power forward, so to speak,” Donovan said. “Those decisions, to me, are just the decision to put your body in between the ball in the basket.”

Positioning and defensive discipline are Buzelis’ focuses at this juncture. His timing and understanding of his own leeway, of where his hands and frame can be on a given play.

“Once I’m in front of the ball, I feel like I can guard anybody,” Buzelis said. “The physicality can always be better with anybody, honestly. It’s about the consistency every day, coming ready to play and on point.”

On the other end, Buzelis is trying to blossom offensively within the confines of Donovan’s recommended shot diet. The best ways he’s incorporated his redeemable traits are in transition and as a cutter. As defenders get physical with him, Buzelis has room to maximize those traits in half-court settings.

Despite those who wish that no stone is left unturned in his growth — most notably as a three-level scorer — Donovan isn’t prioritizing the midrange for Buzelis or anyone else’s development, because “it’s the worst shot in the game.”

“There’s only, like, one or two players in the entire league that make midrange at a high-enough level to warrant even doing that,” Donovan said. “So him using his size and shooting those shots is not great. Now I’m great with it at the end of the clock. Five seconds to go, and he’s got to manufacture a shot late game. But during the course of the game, quite honestly, that’s been part of our problem as a team.

“You want to make sure offensively, especially younger players, they’re understanding how to play efficiently.”

In a recent appearance on Tommy Alter’s “The Young Man and the Three” podcast, Buzelis chuckled when recalling Donovan’s ridicule after he took one such shot midway through his rookie season.

“’Matas, take that s— and throw it out in the trash,’” Buzelis recalled Donovan telling him in a subsequent film session. “I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s my shot, you know?’ … Everyone’s in there. Your heart, like, drops. It’s like, ‘Oh, dang, I’m not gonna shoot that again.’

“But that’s the thing about Billy: He’s gonna be straight up with you. You have to respect that.”

Per Synergy, Buzelis has recorded three attempts ranging from “short” and 17 feet, effectively tracking his activity in the midrange. He’s attempted just three such shots in 23 games this season. Last season, he took 11 such shots, which paled in comparison to his 266 3-point attempts.

Donovan feels he’s granted Buzelis plenty of opportunities as a ballhandler. His 58 pick-and-roll opportunities, which Synergy grades him “below average” at .759 points per possession, ranked third on the team. (Coby White, still reintegrating, isn’t far behind.)

But Buzelis, with a developing handle and a need to get downhill, has only recorded nine attempts off handoffs — a chunk of which seems to stem from inadequate screens or angles, which allow his defenders to catch up and eliminate his advantage. At the rim, Synergy grades Buzelis as “average,” converting only 1.18 points per possession there thus far.

Despite a strict program, despite the variables threatening the 21-year-old’s confidence, these past couple months hardened Buzelis. He seeks answers, avenues to bloom from these boundaries.

Roughly three weeks ago, he entered Donovan’s office in hopes they could tweak his schedule. Before then, Buzelis used to arrive at arenas as early as 3 p.m., while the first bus to the arena parks at 5:15 p.m. for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

“I’m always a big believer in the work,” Buzelis said last week in a return to Orlando. “I show up early, I feel like I’m gonna get rewarded. Now, with the minutes and how I’m playing, just high energy, doing everything on the court, I have to get the rest. So me showing up a little bit later, getting more sleep, getting more recovery, all of that matters; everything matters in that department … and it’s been better, honestly. I feel more rested.”

With reps, he’s challenged himself to learn the nuances of the NBA and life battling with bigs. To “clear my mind, play free and be present,” he said. Last week, when Buzelis totaled 21 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Magic, he credited his mental health coach, whom he spoke with earlier that day.

“’Don’t worry about the results,’” Buzelis recited from a resonating conversation. “’Whatever happens after it happens, you have to let it go. Don’t worry about the stats. Worry about what you can control out there.’”

Buzelis remains a sponge. Questioning everything, curious about teammates and stars. Uprooting his own routine. Blossoming into a professional.

“Every day, you have a chance to learn something new, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said. “That’s all a part of basketball life, even how to control your off-the-court, how to control your on-the-court. It all means something, and that’s how you lead a consistent life.”

Buzelis expected this. He asked for it. He won’t get in his own way now.

“Nothing is in the way,” he said. “I just have to come ready to play every night. That’s it.”