Billy Donovan knew before the game with Brooklyn that the rookie wouldn’t play.
The film showed the Bulls coach all he needed to see with the personnel matchups, and it was obvious to Donovan that the Nets weren’t the right game for Matas Buzelis to continue his path of development.
“They were a little bit smaller, more athletic, quicker,” Donovan said of Brooklyn. “We had been playing two forwards together (in previous games), and sometimes it was Matas and Patrick (Williams), but I just didn’t love that lineup there.”
That’s why he opted to use Talen Horton-Tucker in Buzelis’ rotation spot, giving him another guard and ball-handler against a Nets defense that has shown a willingness to pressure after made baskets.
Not a Buzelis strong suit just yet.
One day later, the Bulls did announce that Buzelis would head to the G League Windy City Bulls to get practice time in. Coincidence that the 11th overall draft pick earned his first DNP (Did Not Play) Coach’s Decision on Friday and found himself busted down to the G League a day later? Yes.
But a good decision either way.
This is about getting practice reps in for Buzelis, and with the way the schedule was last week, the big club couldn’t accommodate that. Since Oct. 27, the Bulls have had just one practice and three shootarounds.
The week ahead doesn’t play out much better, with a practice on Sunday, a game on Monday, a practice opportunity on Tuesday, and then three games in four nights after that with no practices scheduled, but the Bulls called Buzelis back up before Monday’s game with the Jazz anyway.
The Windy City Bulls were convenient for a few practices because they don’t open the season until Friday in Grand Rapids, but have basically been going through a preseason camp almost daily.
Buzelis needed the extra work.
The 20-year-old was getting a quick stint in the first-half rotation in the opening handful of games, but didn’t exactly do much to stand out. His best showing was in the win over the Milwaukee Bucks where he scored a basket in nine minutes of work, handed out two assists and had a steal.
He did score three points in the loss to Oklahoma City a night later, but that game was all but over by the second half with the Thunder dominating from the tip-off.
But to think of this as a negative for Buzelis is incorrect.
This has been the plan for the forward since the start of the season, with the Bulls frequently using Windy City as a practice-reps option for their young players. Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry have each been visitors to the G League affiliate over the last few seasons, and Buzelis is no different.
As Donovan has said on several occasions, one of the major development pieces Buzelis is currently chasing is finding an identity of where he fits. No different than most of this underwhelming draft class.
It’s not like the 2024 class is exactly changing the game so far. The leading scorer of the first-year group is Memphis’ Jaylen Wells, who was actually selected in the second round.
Of the top 10 picks in front of Buzelis, No. 2 pick Alexandre Sarr has probably been the most impactful with 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with the Wizards, but again, there’s very little separation.
The good news for Buzelis is that while minutes might be tough to hunt down with this Bulls roster right now, give it a few months. If executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has his way, by February there will hopefully be a changing trade market and some assets moved.