Getty Arturas Karnisovas looks on prior to a game between the Denver Nuggets and the Sacramento Kings.
Depending on whether you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person, your take on the performance of Chicago Bulls VP Arturas Karnisovas nearly three years in could take on a dramatically different tone than that of your opposite numbers.
On the one hand, Karnisovas pulled one over on the rest of the NBA by betting big on aging vet and throwback hero DeMar DeRozan during the summer of 2021. That move made paved the way for Chicago’s winningest effort in seven seasons and a run to the 2022 playoffs, which ended a five-year postseason drought.
On the other hand, Karnisovas bet big on a Nikola Vucevic trade and the returns have been uneven at best. Moreover, the team used its highest draft selection since Derrick Rose was picked No. 1 overall in 2008 to take a player who still hasn’t progressed much after three years in the league.
Between those and other missteps — not to mention the club’s current sub-.500 record — one Eastern Conference GM saw fit to give a less-than-flowery review of Karnisovas’ tenure so far in speaking to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney. Never mind the fact that there have been mitigating circumstances throughout the exec’s tenure.
East GM: Bulls, Karnisovas Have Made Some of Their Own Bad Luck
Make no mistake about it — the Karnisovas-Marc Eversley era of Windy City hoops has been plagued by things that neither man has any control over. Lonzo Ball’s seemingly endless injury saga rates highly here. So, too, do injuries suffered by Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine and the aforementioned Williams.
The Bulls were also hit harder than just about any team in the league last season when COVID-19 outbreaks were necessitating the use of hardship players. Still, the GM wasn’t about to fully absolve the Bulls’ front office for their team’s shortcomings.
“It has been a lot of bad luck for them. But some of that bad luck, they made themselves,” the GM told Deveney. “You can’t trade for Nikola Vucevic and then be surprised you’re having trouble guarding the paint, you know? But the luck has not been there.”
A handful of other moves were shouted out as errors, too, and to hear a rival GM describe them in the way they did makes it harder to have sympathy for Karnisovas and Co.
“They had the No. 4 pick in what was a pretty bad draft (in 2020), and they got Patrick Williams who has not made an impact, not like they hoped. They cleared out some young guys with bad habits to try to change the culture, but things look bad with Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri [Markkanen] playing well, and the guys you brought in (Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball) either are disappointing or can’t play at all.”
GM Seems to Believe Bulls Brass Will Be Given the Opportunity to Turn Things Around
Whether you’re of the opinion that Karnisovas has been the victim of wild circumstances, his own judgment or some combination thereof, the big question going forward continues to be how long his leash will be in attempting to right the ship.
As the GM sees it, long is probably the operative term, even as some of the team’s ills can’t be explained away by injuries or the pandemic.
“They cling to the fact that they were a good team when Lonzo was healthy but look, he has never been healthy for a full year, so you can’t really hide behind the injury,” the GM said. “The one thing they have working for them is that ownership there, they are very patient. They will give those guys time to rework things, to see if they can get it right. And they have some good pieces, it is not totally hopeless there.”