For a few seconds in Monday’s road loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Matas Buzelis could barely breathe.
The second-year forward had launched himself on the typical aggressive trajectory that allows him to block more shots than any of his Chicago Bulls teammates. Buzelis knew what to expect once he made it into the air, where to place his hand to anticipate the redirection as the ball charted toward the rim.
What he didn’t expect was a new teammate sliding into his landing path. Buzelis was still suspended midair when Collin Sexton backpedaled underneath the forward, knocking his legs backward to send the younger player crashing to the floor, stomach-first. And for a second, Buzelis stayed flat on the court, wincing as he measured up how much pain he could take, how much of the game was left to endure the burden of anchoring the Bulls at both ends of the court.
Six minutes down. Three-and-a-half quarters to go.
This is the new status quo for Buzelis. The 21-year-old kid is becoming increasingly familiar with the hardwood of arenas around the league. It’s not abnormal for a young player to get tossed around — but this is a bit different.
After a tumultuous trade deadline, Buzelis is the primary option for the Bulls, the face of a team taking the first step toward redefining its identity. He’s also one of only three players available who was also on the roster a week ago. Young stars are supposed to get the spotlight treatment. But what Buzelis is receiving is something closer to a floodlight.
The Bulls know what they have in Buzelis. So does the NBA, which is why he was selected to participate in the Rising Stars event Saturday during All-Star weekend. He averages 15.2 points (third in his draft class) and 5.3 rebounds per game while tallying the 10th-most blocks (79) in the league.
For a player who averaged 13 points and 4.5 rebounds in his final 31 games as a rookie, this might seem like a small step forward. But the Bulls, for their part, are content with the progress Buzelis has made this season.
Coach Billy Donovan often appears to slip into the role of disciplinarian when handling Buzelis, regularly pulling the forward off the court for defensive mistakes and missed rebounds. Yet as the weeks wore on, Donovan began to readily praise the forward — for his work ethic, his playmaking, his improved timing and vision.
Even if the numbers seem reserved, Donovan feels Buzelis has made a “significant” leap in Year 2. The remainder of this season will be spent preserving that growth as the forward plunges into the dire straits of navigating a tank job as one of the few players whose future is tied to the rebuild at hand.
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The Bulls made a difficult commitment at the deadline. For the next nine weeks, this team is going to lose as many games as possible. They will do so not because the players or coaches aren’t trying — in fact, it’s the opposite. The roster simply has been stripped and gutted of enough parts that the remaining players, while dedicated to attempted competitiveness, simply can’t keep up with the rest of the league.
This has been an effective tactic so far. The Bulls lost nine of their last 10 games before the All-Star break. In the process, they have marginally improved their odds of landing a top-four draft pick from 2.4% to 13.9% while dropping out of play-in tournament position by a full two games.
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis points to a teammate after scoring against the Nuggets on Feb. 7, 2026, at the United Center. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
This approach isn’t particularly palatable to fans, but it is mostly accepted as a necessary mechanism for long-term roster improvement among the bottom rung of NBA teams. Still, one tricky aspect of tanking is ignored too often: How does a team throw away a season without also ruining a season of development for its existing young core.
Buzelis is being asked to do too much. He inherited too many responsibilities from Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu and Nikola Vučević. Buzelis already had his hands full just trying to live up to his potential as the best two-way player in the starting lineup. Now he’s trying to rally a locker room of strangers, initiate the offense as a primary playmaker and swallow up the mistakes and confusion of his teammates on defense.
Most of the time, he’s juggling these jobs with that signature grin, taking extra time in the locker room to check in with his new teammates, trading off jokes and questions during lulls in shootarounds and practices. But at times, the exhaustion — both physical and emotional — shows through. This is hard. And it’s not getting easier anytime soon.
The Bulls can’t afford to mess the next nine weeks up — because Buzelis is the future in Chicago. The front office believes Josh Giddey is a worthwhile investment. They see promise in 19-year-old rookie Noa Essengue, who played fewer than 10 minutes with the Bulls before suffering a season-ending injury. And the Bulls are genuinely interested in the potential of deadline acquisitions such as Jaden Ivey and Anfernee Simons.
But in Chicago, Buzelis is the fulcrum that every step hinges around. If he develops into a star, the Bulls have a decent plan on their hands. If his progress stalls out, this team is in trouble. And that’s how the forward ended up under a too-bright light at the end of this season, burdened with the unfortunate responsibility of being one of the few players the front office felt was worth investing in long term.
This weekend should serve as yet another reminder of how far this franchise has fallen from relevancy. Buzelis will be the only Bulls representative at the All-Star festivities in Los Angeles. The Bulls have not had a player selection to the All-Star team in three seasons.
The Bulls suffer from a talent vacuum. Role players and depth can go only so far. Even the front office has somewhat abandoned the mythos of “nine or 10 really good players” that once suggested this team could find success simply by rounding out an extensive and hardworking supporting cast. If this team is ever going to get serious again, it will begin with the definition and evolution of a true standout.
Is Buzelis the answer? It’s still too early to say definitively. But for now, he’s the closest thing the Bulls have to stardom.