Bulls Matas Buzelis move signals something far more alarming than rookie's demotion

The Chicago Bulls head into a Nov. 6 road matchup with the Dallas Mavericks hoping to get back to .500. Just a week ago, the team had more wins than losses (3-2) for the first time in two years.

Unsurprisingly, that didn't last as coach Billy Donovan's group dropped a pair of games against the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz.

Mixed in with all that news about wins and losses was the franchise's decision to send Matas Buzelis, the 11th pick in this past summer's draft, to Chicago's G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.

Buzelis was called right back up to the big squad and played a little over four minutes against the Jazz but had no impact, almost literally - he was 0-for-1 from the field and grabbed one rebound.

A lottery pick riding the pine early in his NBA career and being sent down to the G League so he can get some time on the court isn't a novel idea.

The underlying issue, though, goes deeper in Chicago than it does for almost every other NBA franchise.

The Matas Buzelis move shows the Bulls continue to deny the obvious

Chicago traded Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey this offseason and saw DeMar DeRozan land with the Sacramento Kings.

Those two moves seemingly signaled the franchise was finally, mercifully, ready to tank and rebuild.

Then the season started, and those signals aren't so clear anymore.

Through seven games, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are second and third, respectively, in total minutes played, and LaVine leads the Bulls in usage rate at 25.1 percent.

The starting five of Giddey, Coby White, LaVine, Patrick Williams and Vucevic, plus sixth man Ayo Dosunmu, each has at least 60 field goal attempts this year.

Then comes 24-year-old backup center Jalen Smith with 39 shot attempts; at this point in his career, Smith is who he is and doesn't have much more upside to tap into.

Julian Phillips, the only player on the Bulls roster who has a chance to turn into the 3-and-D wing Chicago needs so badly, is seventh on the team in minutes and has attempted a total of 25 shots.

Dalen Terry, the team's 2022 first-round pick, is ninth with 73 minutes and has shot the ball 16 times through seven games.

Talen Horton-Tucker and Lonzo Ball, who, like Smith, are maxed out as players, are 10th and 11th in minutes despite Horton-Tucker appearing in only five games and Ball in three.

Then comes Buzelis.

If the Bulls are trying to boost LaVine and Vucevic's trade values, then sure, giving them minutes and shots makes sense. But LaVine is already injured and no matter how well Vucevic shoots from three, he's a 34-year-old center who offers zero rim protection.

How much will the first few months of the season change teams' minds in terms of what they're willing to give up for either of Chicago's veterans?

And this isn't even taking into account the Bulls' need to finish with one of the sixth-worst records in the NBA to guarantee they keep their 2025 first-round pick, which belongs to the San Antonio Spurs, unless it lands in the top 10.

Losing an asset like that is a worst-case scenario for a team that's supposedly rebuilding.

For whatever reason, it still appears Chicago wants to win more than it wants to commit to a true rebuild. Sending Buzelis to the G League is only one of several confirmations of it.