After a report that the Chicago Bulls locked up several key members of the front office a few weeks ago, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, we have gotten confirmation of at least one of those signings – executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
“By the most current industry standard, Karnišovas’ seat should be hot next season,” writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic on May 4. “But by all accounts, Karnišovas has a good working relationship with Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf, which can and likely will keep Karnišovas through a second contract. One source said the Bulls quietly handed an extension to Karnišovas recently as well.”
The Bulls are 117-119 since Karnisovas took over, the 17th-best mark in the NBA in that span.
While still a losing record, is five more wins than the franchise notched in the four years that preceded his arrival while Chicago also logged back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time since the 2015-16 and 2016-2017 seasons.
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It’s also important to remember that the Bulls were widely viewed as a laughing stock around the league for nearly two decades before Karnisovas’ arrival in April 2020.
“When we hired Arturas, I was confident that he would help turn things around, but I can’t say I thought it would be this quickly,” Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf told ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski in January of 2022 as the Bulls’ were sitting atop the Eastern Conference. “There are no issues. There’s no drama. Just everyone wanting to get to the next level. It’s a good feeling.
“Listen, this isn’t a victory lap, but it’s nice to be relevant and in the mix in games that are intense and matter. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re happy where we’re at so far.”
As Mayberry notes, Karnisovas has been instrumental in cleaning up things unforeseen by the public to help create a lasting culture. But not everyone within the organization is as high now as Reinsdorf was then.
Internal Frustrations Growing for Bulls
Reinsdorf’s comments about there being no internal drama loom large in light of Mayberry’s report.
“There are those in the organization who are no different than the rest of us,” Mayberry writes. “They want to see a plan. They can tell the status quo isn’t working and know changes must be made. And with each opportunity Karnišovas allows to pass, their confidence in him and the franchise’s direction seems to crack a little more.”
Karnisovas addressed his inactivity this past trade deadline by saying that there were no deals that made sense to improve the team.
That answer may have been unsatisfactory to fans but, if the Bulls viewed themselves as buyers while other teams tried to make them sellers, it stands to reason that Karnisovas leaned into his theme of continuity through the remainder of the campaign.
Again though, he certainly sounded ready to address their issues this offseason.
It is important to note that Mayberry says the Bulls are far off from ready to move on from Karnisovas, as his clandestine extension would suggest and as was the case with head coach Billy Donovan.
However, the best-laid plans can and often do fail, especially in sports.
And, for all of the lip service, Karnisovas’ inactivity speaks volumes and may or may not point to a larger issue for the Bulls.
Arturas Karnisovas Limited by Bulls Ownership
There has been a long-standing belief among fans that ownership was the root cause for the Bulls’ inability to return to perennial-playoff team status. Comments made by team chairman and owner Jerry Reinsdorf won’t do much to quell that belief.
“It is a tough position they are in because they need to do something,” a rival executive told Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney ahead of the deadline. “They can’t add salary, they can’t go over the tax,” the exec tells Deveney. “Ownership will not let them do that. That leaves them two choices – play it out with what you have this year or tear it all down completely.”
The Bulls have shown no signs of being willing to tear it down to the studs leaving them in limbo going into a potentially critical offseason.
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Bulls Decide Arturas Karnisovas’ Future Amid Dwindling Confidence: Report