"He’s worked his tail off and everything he’s gotten right now, he’s earned.” Billy Donovan on Buzelis' development

(VIDEO) Matas Buzelis became just the third rookie in franchise history to finish a game with at least 28 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on Saturday. Vindication for Billy Donovan who, to the chagrin of some Bulls fans, chose to bring last summer’s 11th-overall pick along slowly?

CHICAGO — With winning a distant third on their to-do list behind drumming up interest in their former All-Stars and retaining their top-10 protected lottery pick, the Chicago Bulls had very little going for themselves five months ago. 

Or so went conventional wisdom.

So it raised eyebrows when Billy Donovan suggested that Matas Buzelis, the 11th-overall pick in last summer’s draft and beacon of hope for the future, could spend time in the G League. It then furrowed eyebrows when the 20-year-old saw as much action as Torrey Craig and Talen Horton-Tucker to open the season. 

To outsiders looking in, it made little sense to keep Buzelis on the fringes of the rotation on a team with nothing to lose but its third lottery pick in five years. 

To Donovan, Buzelis needed more than just time on task. 

“If,” he said after the first day of training camp, “you just throw somebody out there for 35 minutes and you don’t teach them the things that they’ve gotta do to build a routine, to build habits, to put them in a position to be successful, not only individually, but inside of a team, it becomes difficult.” 

Fast forward to Saturday where, in a career-high 38 minutes, Buzelis joined Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley as the only rookies in franchise history to finish a game with at least 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Ironically enough, it was the 23rd start of the season for the Hinsdale native, who shot 5-for-7 from the arc, 5-for-10 at the rim and 3-for-4 at the stripe.

“I’m just reading the game when I’m out there,” Buzelis said. I’m not overthinking it. It’s a very simple game.” 

Buzelis is averaging 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in March with one more game — Monday’s contest at Oklahoma City — to go this month. 

“You can see the confidence,” Nikola Vučević said. “I think the game is slowing down for him a bit as well. He’s been able to match physicality. Good game by Matas. It’s great to see his growth.”

To his credit, Buzelis has taken everything — from his inconsistent playing time to his quick hooks — in stride. Recently, he even went so far as to thank his head coach for holding him accountable for the mistakes he’s made. 

It’s enough to make one wonder if Donovan, one of 17 finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame Class of 2025, feels vindicated for the way he’s brought Buzelis along.

“I don’t know if I feel vindicated,” Donovan told The Bigs after the 120-119 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. “I just feel a responsibility to help him become a really good player and him understand and see what he’s gotta do to become a good player. You’re not telling him ‘hey, don’t shoot, don’t dribble, don’t pass, stand in the corner.’ There’s none of that. We’re letting him be aggressive and play. 

“But is he playing hard? Is he following the game plan? Is he following the scouting report? Is he blocking out? Is he coming up with loose basketballs? Is he putting his body in play? Is he making good decisions? That’s really the part of development because at some point he’s gonna have to be accountable to winning. Everybody would say, ‘ah, he’s young, he’s young.’ But when that stops, now what? Now what? He’s gotta learn something. 

“And I give him credit. He’s worked his tail off and everything he’s gotten right now, he’s earned.”