Matas Buzelis was at a loss for words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really know \u2026 what did I accomplish this year?\u201d the Bulls forward replied when asked by the media about his 2025-26 campaign.<\/p>\n
When told he was one of six players in NBA history to have at least 150 made three-pointers and 100 blocks, yeah, he was taken back. Especially when names like Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant were in that company.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s amazing how the mood quickly changed for the 21-year-old when given new information.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s crazy, yeah,\u201d Buzelis said Friday night after the loss to Orlando. \u201cIt definitely means a lot to me for sure. It shows the work that I put in during the summer, during the season, the dedication, countless hours in the gym, and there\u2019s just more. I want to accomplish more, and more for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll likely have to wait on both fronts as a badly sprained ankle suffered against the Magic in the fourth has likely put his final start in Dallas on life support.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still a season Buzelis should be proud of from an individual standpoint. He doubled his scoring average from his rookie season, going from 8.6 points per game to 16.3, he was stronger on the defensive end from a physicality standpoint with a lot of room to improve, and he became a legit top 10 rim protector in the league.<\/p>\n
Is he a definitive high-ceiling All-Star yet? No, but he\u2019s got the highest ceiling on this Bulls roster and it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n
And maybe more importantly, he\u2019s got a work ethic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this summer I am going to work my butt off,\u201d Buzelis insisted. \u201cThe whole summer, it\u2019s going to be a hard summer for me. My body getting stronger and sharpening pretty much everything, but mainly the body part, the shot, the handle, just everything. The main thing will be (adding) the strength for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always want more for myself and the team. I definitely believe that I am (a foundation piece). I know for a fact I am only going to get better. If they want me here and they believe in me, I\u2019m here. I believe I am definitely a big piece, and I am going to continue to work and put my head down and grind to show it.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the things the Bulls should be excited to hear. If only there were key figures in place to hear it.<\/p>\n
Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley were both fired on Monday, and the future of Billy Donovan is still up in the air with the coach expected to meet with ownership next week and discuss the plans moving forward and if Donovan wants to even be a part of those plans.<\/p>\n
Buzelis discussed both of those topics in what was likely his exit interview with the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough,\u201d Buzelis said of the firings. \u201cThe organization is going to do what they feel is best, but it\u2019s unfortunate because those guys drafted me, believed in me. They were like family to me. Those guys are going to be good. They\u2019re great people. They work really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Donovan, Buzelis continued his high praise of the coach and the tough love in which Donovan coaches him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want him to stay,\u201d Buzelis said. \u201cI\u2019m riding with him forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember sitting down with Billy over the summer and talking about how I don\u2019t know how to win. It\u2019s a team sport and hard to win basketball games, but you can be a winning player out there and do what it takes for the team to win. I haven\u2019t really been on a team where I have to pave the way with my teammates to lead them to victory in games. I told them I don\u2019t know what to do and they taught me. I want to show them this season I am a winning player and I have those characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matas Buzelis was at a loss for words. \u201cI don\u2019t really know \u2026 what did I accomplish this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-708440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116388066981370190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}