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Some longtime Bulls executives, sidelined under Karnisovas, have been more active in internal team operations, sources told ESPN. That includes Paxson, who is now a senior advisor, and Brian Hagen, who has been with the organization since 2012 and was an assistant GM under Paxson and former general manager Gar Forman. Graham knows the task ahead of him: to restore an iconic, historic franchise that has for years lacked cohesion and direction. He's also well aware of the opportunity. "I do believe an organization can change with good leadership," Graham said.
If Karnisovas had presented a plan for a hard reset, pointing out the strength of the then-upcoming draft classes in 2025 and 2026, ownership would have listened, multiple team sources said. "Anybody that's in that position, you're managing up," a different team source told ESPN. "You're explaining to your owner, 'This is why we need to do this, and this is what's going to help us.'" Sources close to Karnisovas and Eversley said the executives were skeptical about tanking as a real strategy.
The NBA hired former Lithuanian star and Chicago Bulls vice president Artūras Karnišovas as its consultant for building NBA Europe, according to sources with direct knowledge of the hiring who were granted anonymity to discuss a personnel matter that had not been formally announced. Karnišovas, 55, will advise NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his deputies on governance and game rules for NBA Europe, how to identify and recruit talent, how to create pathways for players into the new league and potentially from the new league to the NBA, and how to expand the continent’s already strong youth player development model, those sources said. He will be a liaison between the NBA and the new European competition, NBA Europe and NBA teams, and FIBA, the international governing body for basketball that is partnering with Silver to stand up his new league.
The NBA Board of Governors will review the second round of bids from potential NBA Europe owners on Tuesday and consider next steps. Those sources who disclosed the Karnišovas hiring said the NBA and FIBA are making tremendous progress and are in the final stages ahead of their planned October 2027 launch, and there could be further action by the NBA Board of Governors during its annual summer meetings in Las Vegas this week.
Not that Reinsdorf hasn’t done that before, especially since Arturas Karnisovas did not grow on the Bulls family tree, but the narrative was Bulls hire Bulls. A source very familiar with the situation reiterated that all of the candidates that made face-to-face presentations to the Bulls last week were impressive, and that included Lloyd. Graham just stood out with his plan to build out the front office from the ground up.
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There is a false narrative that the Reinsdorfs don’t spend on the front office, and multiple sources have said that was not the case in the Arturas Karnisovas regime at all. Karnisovas got every hire he wanted with no pushback on money. The problem? The former front office of John Paxson and Gar Forman was old school and worked for many years as a mostly two-man operation. The league just outgrew that mentality. When Karnisovas took over more than six years ago, he did build out the front office without constraints, but it never caught up to what the rest of the Association was doing. Graham will change that. “We’ve been playing checkers and now it’s time to play chess,” a source said.
I was told by a Bulls employee who was on a Zoom call with Graham that his early enthusiasm is palpable, which is certainly a step up from Karnišovas, whose enthusiasm was consistently negligible. Karnišovas rarely deigned to talk to the Chicago media, but in his defense, when he did, he usually made the situation feel worse. Donovan was the real face of the organization during his six years, so it would be a nice change of pace to hear from the person making decisions.
As of last week, his list of candidates to replace Arturas Karnisovas was down to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd; Bryson Graham, the Hawks’ vice president of basketball operation; Pistons vice president Dennis Lindsey; and Celtics assistant GM Dave Lewin. All four are considered not only process-oriented but good at communicating their plans to ownership, fans and media. A source told the Sun-Times that although there was no clear-cut favorite for the job as of last Monday, Lloyd has taken the lead and could be named to the position in the next several days. That makes sense considering his long stint with the Bulls under former basketball operations chief John Paxson, who remains with the organization as an adviser and is said to be a strong Lloyd supporter.
Before the firing of executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley last week, the Sun-Times was reporting that Donovan was likely gone. How gone? Put it at a solid 90%. In the wake of those front office changes, it felt like it dropped to 49% gone.
According to a source, Karnisovas and Eversley’s talent evaluation was questionable right away, going back to the 2020 draft — the duo’s first bite at the apple. Holding No. 4, Karnisovas settled on Patrick Williams. There were multiple scouts and other personnel in the draft room, however, that wanted Tyrese Haliburton. Now, the entire draft process was messed up because of Covid, but Karnisovas specifically was not only fixated on Williams, but didn’t even consider Haliburton a serious prospect. The source indicated that Karnisovas didn’t even feel like Haliburton would be a top four talent on the Bulls roster at the time.
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Following the firings of former Bulls executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the franchise remains steadfast in wanting to retain head coach Billy Donovan, but the ball is in his court regarding his future in Chicago, league sources told HoopsHype. However, with many around the league closely monitoring what the Orlando Magic will do with current coach Jamahl Mosley, it’s a potential option worth looking at for Donovan. Of course, Donovan was once hired by the Magic in 2007 only to back out of the job days later and return to the University of Florida. Several other coaching openings are expected and noted in this story to monitor. Additionally, the playoffs could dictate another couple of openings.
KC Johnson: Billy Donovan thanks Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley for bringing him to Chicago and reiterates how much he values his relationship with ownership. As for next Monday's meeting, he is consistent: Needs to see path/plan forward before making his decision. Donovan: "I want to win at a high level. I think the organization deserves that."