Buzelis wasn’t shy about hoping to grab an individual honor, and an argument can be made that he was playing like an All-Rookie first-teamer after the All-Star break.
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis knew Rookie of the Year honors were out of reach by the end of the regular season.
The All-Rookie team, however? He wasn’t shy about wanting to put an individual achievement in his trophy case.
‘‘Any type of award in the NBA, I’d like,’’ Buzelis, the 11th overall pick in the draft last June, said matter-of-factly last month. ‘‘Yeah, I think I belong on that All-Rookie team, for sure. It would be an honor to grab something like that.’’
Consider it done.
The NBA announced its All-Rookie teams Tuesday. And while Buzelis played like a first-teamer after the All-Star break, he settled for being a second-team selection, joining the Heat’s Kel’el Ware, the Pelicans’ Yves Missi, the Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan and the Wizards’ Bub Carrington.
Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle of the Spurs was the only unanimous first-team selection and was joined by the Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher, the Wizards’ Alex Sarr and Grizzlies teammates Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey.
Buzelis finished seventh in the overall voting, falling 54 points shy of making the first team. His play after the All-Star break, however, was as good as that of any player in the class.
It was so good that Buzelis finished as only the fifth rookie in NBA history to make at least 95 three-pointers and have 75 blocks. He joined an elite group that also features Shane Battier, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and Sarr.
In the last six weeks of the regular season, Buzelis scored the fifth-most points in the rookie class (299), shot 39.3% from three-point range and had the sixth-most blocks among rookies (27). He had four games with 20 or more points in that stretch, including a career-high 31 on March 22 against the Lakers.
Unfortunately for him, he started slowly and averaged only 5.6 minutes in October and 12.9 in November. But after taking Patrick Williams’ spot in the starting lineup, Buzelis averaged 26.7 minutes in his last 31 games.