PHILADELPHIA — The campaign is appreciated.
Last week, the Bulls’ public-relations department started the hype machine for forward Matas Buzelis to collect votes and receive NBA All-Rookie honors.
Buzelis was aware of it, but he was hoping his play since the All-Star break also would speak volumes.
“Any type of award in the NBA, I’d like,” Buzelis said Sunday. “To be here is even a great blessing. Yeah, I think I belong on that All-Rookie team, for sure. It would be an honor to grab something like that.”
Since the break, Buzelis, 20, came into the season finale fifth in scoring (13.2 points per game) and sixth in total blocks among rookies. In a late surge, he has been the third-best rookie scorer the last month (16.5 points per game), with only Zaccharie Risacher (16.6 points) of the Hawks and leading Rookie of the Year candidate Stephon Castle (18.2 points) of the Spurs ahead of him.
It’s proof that Buzelis’ game is evolving and changing for the better.
The king-sized chip on his shoulders hasn’t changed, however.
Buzelis still remembers all 10 teams that passed on him on draft night last June and the players who were selected ahead of him. The only difference now that he has played 80 games with the Bulls is that he wouldn’t change a single selection from the draft order.
“Honestly, I couldn’t imagine being anything else than a Bull,” Buzelis said. “I love this team. I love the coaching staff, the players, just everything that is involved in being with this team. When I dropped to No. 11, as soon as that happened, yeah, I’m taking it personally. I always play with a chip on my shoulder where I feel like I have to prove something to somebody, even myself.
“But looking back, I think it was the best situation for me, what happened that night.”
Ball game
The news on guard Lonzo Ball wasn’t great. It seldom is.
Coach Billy Donovan said he had a talk with Ball (right wrist) before the team headed to Philadelphia, and it sounds like the best-case scenario is to try to have him ready for a Round 1 meeting with the Cavaliers if the Bulls can get out of the Play-In Tournament.
“The challenge for him is he needs to let the wrist calm down, and I do think some of the shooting, the passing and the ballhandling, I don’t want to say it’s set him back because it hasn’t, but it has irritated it,” Donovan said. “So the next step — he’s been in a brace with the wrist — is to let it calm down. The issue is he hasn’t really picked up a ball and done anything, so the hope is starting Monday, he can get back in the gym, and he can start to ramp up to see how he feels with his wrist.”
The Bulls host the Heat on Wednesday, and if they win, they would head to Orlando or Atlanta to play the loser of that matchup.
“If he can get through that week, and we’re fortunate enough to get through the play-in, that would be the goal,” Donovan said.
Ball hasn’t played since Feb. 28.
Optimistic about Giddey
Guard Josh Giddey (right forearm) missed his second consecutive game, but all signs point to him being ready by Wednesday.
“Obviously, there is a high level of optimism that he’ll be available with this rest for him,” Donovan said.
Donovan had better hope so. Giddey has been a Heat killer this season, averaging a triple-double against them in three games.
