Getty Arturas Karnisovas, executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls.
The Chicago Bulls entered the day of the 2023 NBA Draft without any draft picks; 18 years since they last went without a draft pick and just the second time in franchise history.
But rumblings of looming potential changes are on the rise.
First came word that Bulls executive vice president of basketball operation Arturas Karnisovas and Co. were checking rival teams’ temperature on a Zach LaVine trade – the asking price of which was revealed by NBA Sports Chicago Bulls insider K.C. Johnson – as well as that of DeMar DeRozan and it appears that those calls may have been more than exploratory.
“According to team sources, Karnišovas has the green light from ownership to steer the franchise how he sees fit,” wrote Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic on June 22. “Whichever direction he chooses is said to be his call, free of interference or influence from his bosses.”
After an aggressive start to his tenure, swapping out all but two players pre-existing his takeover in 2020 – LaVine and Coby White – Karnisovas has preached and practiced patience.
The Bulls have made only marginal additions for two trade deadlines and one full offseason.
Of their four established acquisitions in that span, only Andre Drummond is set to be on the roster next season. But, despite the apparent autonomy that Karnisovas has been granted, a rival executive told to Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney that they believe the Bulls are ultimately held back by an ownership group notorious for being thrifty.
“They can’t add salary, they can’t go over the tax,” the exec told Heavy Sports in January. “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 decided to play out the season, finishing 14-9 and even winning a Play-In Tournament game but more changes have already taken place in the Eastern Conference.
As teams like the Boston Celtics continue to add to their ranks, and the Miami Heat keeps their name in the running for the next star that comes available – namely Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers – the Bulls the risk of falling even further behind the pack than they did this past season when they banked on continuity which was already a risky proposition.
Bulls Doubled-Down on Last Season
The Bulls won six fewer games and missed the playoffs entirely one season after snapping their five-year postseason drought.
Banking on continuity last offseason included quietly giving contract extensions to Karnisovas, head coach Billy Donovan, and many others in the front office on top of holding onto their top three players, DeRozan, LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic.
Karnisovas has not said who he was looking to trade away or for. But he has said that there were no deals to his liking when previously asked.
And, for the second exit interview in a row, he vowed to continue to “look at everything”.
This has seemingly included gauging the trade value of DeRozan and LaVine, even amid reports they are working with Vucevic on a new contract that could come in around $65 million over three years.
But Karnisovas has maintained a high asking price on pieces like LaVine, 28, who just signed a five-year, $215 million contract last offseason.
“One league source said the Bulls would be focused on getting a good young player, multiple first-round picks and salary filler if they decide to trade LaVine,” wrote Johnson in an article from June 19. “Another said one first-round pick and an established, high-end player might be sufficiently intriguing.”
Per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the expected return on a trade for DeRozan, 33, would be lower as he heads into the final year of his contract and the twilight of his career.
Bulls Staring Down Luxury Tax
The Bulls currently sit roughly $18.6 million below the salary cap and $47 million below the luxury tax line, per Spotrac. A new deal for Vucevic would eat up the cap space rather quickly, and then some if he does not give them a team-friendly discount.
They still need to add three-point shooting, a playmaking point guard, and frontcourt depth.
With the full nontaxpayers midlevel exception ($12.4 million) potentially at their disposal, and the bi-annual exception ($4.5 million), they have options. But the final say ultimately lies with ownership and, despite a reputation that suggests they let the front office do its job, skepticism remains about just how aggressive Karnisovas can be in addressing this team’s flaws.