After a series of trades that left the Chicago Bulls unrecognizable, second-year guard Matas Buzelis is one of the last remaining familiar faces.
Buzelis is carrying much of the load for the Bulls in terms of offense and presence. Overall, he has demonstrated consistency throughout a very hectic transition period. Buzelis is averaging 15.0 points and 5.4 rebounds over the course of 58 games played.
Recently, Buzelis was selected for his second NBA Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, it has been a real adjustment for him not to be playing alongside those who helped him during his rookie year. Those included Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Nikola Vucevic. All of whom were traded away.
But Buzelis told ClutchPoints that while getting used to the newbies was hard, he accepts it as part of basketball.
“It was tough at first, of course,” Buzelis said. “It's a whole group of new guys, and I keep telling everybody it is what it is. We have to move past it. It happened, the trades happened, and now we have this group here, so what are we going to do about it? Are we going to pout and get down on ourselves? No, we have to gel together and fight.”
Matas Buzelis is candid about his future aspirations
Right now, the Bulls are in a tough spot. They are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak. They sit at 24-34, and their new roster is still finding its groove.
But Buzelis remains focused on the task at hand. For him, winning is above all else. And he also maintains the philosophy of “No ‘I' in the team.
During the All-Star Break, Buzelis hinted at wanting to play in the All-Star game in the future, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. However, he doesn't focus on that as much as trying to win in the here and now.
“Everything comes back to winning,” Buzelis said. “You have to win playing in the NBA. It's kind of harsh, but I really don't care about that. I want to win as a group, and basketball is a team sport. It's not individual, so we have to win first.”
That desire to win goes back to his days growing up in Chicago. For Buzelis, no matter what he does, he wants to win. In the process, Buzelis credits his parents for nurturing him with that mindset.
“I want to win at anything I do,” Buzelis said. “It's not just basketball. I could be playing golf, or I want to win. It's just in my nature, how my mom and dad raised me growing up.”
The Bulls will play the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday—a game in which Buzelis will be reunited with Coby White after his trade to Charlotte.
