There's More to Matas Buzelis: Forward Elevating His Game in January

To say Matas Buzelis has had an up-and-down season would be an understatement. The second-year forward certainly looked to have hit the dreaded sophomore slump early on this season. But his bounceback effort after initial struggles has been nothing short of impressive.

Matas Buzelis has started to look like the franchise cornerstone of the Chicago Bulls, one strong effort at a time, like his 28-point effort in Chicago's high-scoring win over the Atlanta Hawks in late December, or more defensive-focused efforts like his 16-point, 3-steal, 1-block-performance in early December against the Warriors, in which he still flashed his impressive slashing ability on offense. 

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has talked at length about wanting to see Buzelis be decisive, making quick decisions in terms of dribble, pass, shoot, having a healthy shot diet in terms of getting all the way to the rim or taking in-rhythm 3-point looks, and eliminating careless fouls on defense. Buzelis seemed to be soaking up this coaching, but still was scoring between 12-16 points per game (PPG), and averaging 2.4-4.0 personal fouls per game through the first three months of the season.

Then everything seemed to click--so far--in January for the Lithuanian-American forward.

At the time of this writing, Buzelis is averaging 21 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, while shooting 40.7% from the 3-point line on 6.8 attempts per game from deep through four games in January.

Just as important, his aggression level driving to the basket has gone up in the absence of team leaders Josh Giddey and Coby White, with Buzelis averaging a robust 5.8 free throw attempts per game through that same aforementioned four-game January stretch. 

For a season that is starting to feel like it will once again end with the Bulls straddling the line between rebuilding and trying to win, it must feel great for Bulls fans to finally see some two-way, star potential-type games from the third-youngest player on the team.

So far in Year 2, Buzelis has flashed the most important thing for his chances at being a "star" in this league, and that is shouldering a solid offensive load while still providing great defense. The defense has been far from excellent at times this season, but overall Buzelis has ranged from solid to great, specifically his shot-blocking.\

Overall, Cleaning The Glass (paid subscription site) has the Bulls defense as 4.1 points better per 100 possessions with Buzelis on the floor, and they have had a much easier time keeping opponents off the free throw line with him in the game. Cleaning The Glass also has Buzelis at a 2.4% block rate, which ranks in the 100th percentile for players categorized as forwards in their database. 

Offensively, Buzelis continues to flash what was the biggest question mark surrounding his game coming out of the since disbanded G League Ignite program: 3-point shooting.

Over the four games in January, Buzelis hasn't been shy about letting the 3-pointers fly, somewhat out of necessity with the Bulls missing the combined 11.6 3-point attempts per game from White and Giddey. The 6.8 attempts from deep in January are sure to please Billy Donovan, who wants the team to generate plenty of good looks from 3-point range.

Donovan has also preached the need for Buzelis to have better decision-making, and he has responded as of late with 3.3 APG through four January games. Buzelis has yet to average more than 1.6 APG in a month this season, so even if it is simply the added playmaking opportunities sans Giddey and White, something is clicking for the 2nd year forward.

Buzelis only had one assist in their last game--a loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons--but it was a nice possession in which Buzelis came off of a double screen from Tre Jones and Nikola Vucevic, eventually finding a rolling Vucevic in stride with a lob pass for a short floater. Buzelis should be able to utilize his height to find better passing angles than anyone on the team outside of Giddey and Vucevic, another thing Donovan has discussed at length. 

Only time will tell if the Bulls rally to make another Play-In--or perhaps postseason--appearance, or continue to slide down the standings and into better 2026 NBA Draft Lottery odds, but for now, the Bulls should feel good that they appear to have an obvious franchise cornerstone on their hands.