Matas Buzelis’ stature continues to grow across the NBA with his peers and fans alike.
A healthy round of Bulls fan debate was generated when Buzelis made an interview appearance on the Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady podcast during the 2026 NBA offseason.
Lost in that debate is the nuance of Buzelis detailing a working relationship he has established with two-time NBA Champion and the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player, Kevin Durant.
It’s understandable why Buzelis would seek NBA career insights from Durant, as both players share a similar physical profile in terms of height and build.
Durant will also finish his NBA career with accolades only a small number of NBA players have ever achieved: NBA championships, NBA All-Star appearances, Olympic Gold Medals, NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA All-Star Game MVP, All-NBA team selections, NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA scoring titles, and one of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time.
What NBA player wouldn’t want to glean 1% of that NBA resume into their game? At the same time, it’s not irrational thinking to see how conversations with Kevin Durant might steer Matas Buzelis to want to increase his appetite for including midrange jumpshots in his in-game shot profile.
There’s nothing wrong with Buzelis leaning on Durant’s NBA career advice, and at the same time, Buzelis would be wise to expand the aperture of his career benchmarks and consider putting 2025-26 NBA Champion Mikal Bridges on the same tier of go-to guys for NBA advice as he’s done with Durant.
Bridging NBA career influences
Mikal Bridges may not have the same resume as Kevin Durant or the same physical profile as Matas Buzelis, but what Bridges does have is deep playoff experience encompassing two NBA Finals, and soon an NBA championship ring on his ring finger of choice.
Buzelis connecting with Bridges is an opportunity for the Bulls wing to hedge his advice towards the fine alternative outcome of modeling his NBA career after a reliable two-way glue-guy wing who is effective in the midrange but also completely sound on the defensive end.
Going into the third year of his NBA career, Buzelis should be open-minded enough to the possibility that he isn’t a number one option or NBA MVP-candidate type of player.
Only Buzelis can debunk that possibility, and yet he needs to be prepared to adjust his standing in the NBA if he’s better suited as a co-star on a winning NBA roster instead of the main guy.
Bridges lived that experience, going from a low-ceiling main guy with the Brooklyn Nets to an appropriately slotted supporting player on the reigning NBA Champion Knicks roster. Through it all, Bridges remained consistent in taking shots that served his team and earned an NBA All-Defensive Team reputation along the way.
It would be awesome if Matas finishes his NBA career on a Kevin Durant trajectory, and if he doesn’t, he would be wise to have a solid plan B of a Mikal Bridges-type NBA career that will forever be respected by the ball-knowers of the world.
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