The Chicago Bulls have four 2026-27 NBA regular-season games under their belt and a sparse 1-3 win-loss record to show for it in their quartet of early-season games. Bulls forward Matas Buzelis, in these four games, has emerged as a concerning figure in the Bulls' journey to a 1-3 record.
The backdrop of Bulls fans’ concerns about Buzelis after the Bulls have completed 5% of their 2026-27 regular season is undoubtedly colored by expectations for a third-season performance leap by Buzelis that frankly can’t be divorced from Buzelis’ own vocal declarations about a variety of topics such as his shot profile, offseason diet changes, and the Bulls' new management regime among notable topics.
Unfortunately for Buzelis, the ferocity of his offseason opinions has yet to consistently translate into a ferocious on-court basketball performance on either end of the court. In the Bulls' first regular-season game against the Raptors, Buzelis scored a total of three points through the first 3 quarters of the game.
Seven points were scored by Buzelis in the entirety of the Bulls' second game and lone win-to-date against the Milwaukee Bucks. Excluding a garbage-time 4th quarter in Monday’s Bulls 134-99 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics, Buzelis tallied seven points in the first three quarters of the game, according to NBA.com.
Defensively, Buzelis’ presence is largely non-existent. On the playmaking front, Buzelis is averaging less than 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game over the course of the Bulls' first four 2026-27 NBA regular-season games.
Buzelis continues to be a liability in pick-and-roll coverage as a perimeter defender and offers very little in the defensive rebounding department, averaging 3.5 defensive rebounds per game in the Bulls' first four 2026-27 NBA regular-season games.
If Buzelis’ words have spoken loud and clear since the 2026 NBA offseason, his actual on-court production has been quiet and confusing, save for the Bulls' third game of the 2026-27 regular season against the Washington Wizards.
Buzelis’ words strike again
In an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley, published on Monday, Buzelis offered more words that frankly would be better left unspoken, given the early-season individual struggles painfully evident in Buzelis, in addition to the obvious overall Bulls team struggles to start the 2026-27 NBA season.
Bulls fans don’t really need to know that Buzelis and the rest of the team have already engaged in a player-only meeting, couched as a film session. Bulls fans definitely don’t want to hear a chorus of “all of us” when it’s becoming clear that Buzelis needs to figure out his individual contribution to a new Bulls roster.
Matas Buzelis must individually own his words
Whether it was offering a social media rebuttal to CHSN’s Ruthie Polinsky on a reasonable offseason opinion, or a befuddling podcast tour that seemingly implied issues with former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan’s coaching philosophies, Matas Buzelis has done a lot of talking leading up to the 2026-27 NBA season, and it’s simply time for him to deliver on his words or accept the criticism that comes with over-promising and under-delivering.
Hopefully, the tide turns for Buzelis as the Bulls get deeper into the 2026-27 NBA campaign, because if it doesn’t, then Buzelis criticism should turn into Buzelis consequences as Bryson Graham continues to seek clarity in his Chicago Bulls basketball operation.
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