Matas Buzelis has lofty goals for Year 2 with the Bulls: ‘He really wants to be pushed’

Matas Buzelis always wants to be coached harder. That has been a trend since the second-year forward stepped into the Advocate Center for his first training session with the Chicago Bulls last season.

Buzelis doesn’t want to be coddled. It doesn’t matter that he was a teenager when he was drafted. Or that he didn’t earn a starting role until the final third of his rookie season. Buzelis wants to push himself into the next echelon of NBA talent, separating himself from the promising hopefuls and establishing himself as a legitimate star of the future.

That means setting goals — and standards.

Buzelis has lofty expectations for Year 2. He wants to be named to one of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams. He also wants to be considered for Most Improved Player, an award rarely handed out to players in their second seasons. To reach that stature, Buzelis doesn’t want the Bulls coaching staff to hold back.

“I want to be held accountable,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s being yelled at in front of everyone, in solitude, in the video room — it doesn’t matter to me. I want to be coached and held to that standard.”

Criticism can come from anywhere. Teammates? Coaches? Fans? The media? Buzelis wants to hear it all: “That’s fine with me.”

To coach Billy Donovan, this mentality is Buzelis’ strongest asset as a player — even more than his splashy dunks or blocked shots.

Buzelis had to earn every inch of freedom in his debut season. Donovan yanked him off the court for the smallest errors — poor screen navigation on defense, stagnant relocation on offense — and confined him to garbage time and short first-half stints for weeks at a time. By the midpoint of the season, Buzelis was averaging only 12.9 minutes with two healthy scratches.

But if he was ever discouraged by his limited playing time, he never showed it. And Donovan believes Buzelis “exceeded expectations” as a rookie due to his ability to receive and apply feedback from the entire coaching staff.

“He really wants to be pushed and challenged,” Donovan said. “He’s always been that way. He’s got a really good ability to quickly course-correct and try to learn from it and move forward.

“I don’t think Matas has ever taken the easy way out. He’s always taking the tougher road, and I give him credit for putting himself out there who he wants to be as a player.”

Year 1 was a success. But that doesn’t mean anything is guaranteed in Year 2.

Player development was something of a mystery to Buzelis when he began his rookie season. He didn’t know how to eat or sleep to the standards of a professional athlete. He wanted to spend as much time as possible in the gym, but once he got onto the court, he felt lost about what to work on to improve his playing time.

“It was difficult for me at first,” he admitted.

Bulls players Matas Buzelis, left, and Dalen Terry have a laugh while taking in a game between the Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun on Sept. 3, 2025, at Wintrust Arena. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

That confusion evaporated over the course of the season. After spending extensive time with the player development staff, Buzelis knew his three major points of emphasis for the offseason: ballhandling, off-the-dribble shooting and navigating the pick-and-roll.

With Buzelis now firmly entrenched as a starter for the upcoming season, the Bulls are prepared to run more of the offense through him. This means he will be expected to play with the ball in his hands, a departure from the mostly reactive role he filled last season.

In a season already defined by the team’s desire to become more physical, Buzelis wants to stand out in the frontcourt. He didn’t back down from contact as a rookie, but at times he was overpowered by bulkier bigs. At 6-foot-10 and 209 pounds, Buzelis is lengthy enough to defend up to the five but lacks the heft of a typical NBA center.

The Bulls need Buzelis to get stronger — but they don’t want him to bulk up too much to preserve his mobility and bounce. After a summer spent in the weight room, Buzelis feels better equipped to match opponents this year.

“I believe I was physical,” he said. “But can I be more physical? Absolutely. Can I be better? Absolutely.”

In many ways, the Bulls’ future will hinge on the outcome of this season for Buzelis. Even with the team’s investment in players such as Josh Giddey and Coby White, Buzelis has a different type of potential.

But he also has plenty to prove before his potential can be translated into dependable stardom. He knows that. The team knows that. And that truth rings as an inspiration — not a burden — for a young player eager to tackle his second year in the league.

“There’s no pressure (on) me,” Buzelis said. “I know how hard I work. I know there’s going to be bumps and bruises in the road, but my mentality is always to be the best, to help the team win.”