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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.
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.
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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.
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."
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Team sources described a "growing disconnect" between the front office and the rest of the franchise, with several people across the organization unsure about the direction of the team after a surprising trade deadline. "People didn't know the plan," one team source told ESPN on Monday. "They didn't know the process. We needed to move on -- with a clean slate and start this thing over."
According to a source, both were on thin ice heading into the trade deadline back in February, with concerns over the immediate direction of the organization. The embarrassment of the Jaden Ivey incident was the final straw, leaving the Reinsdorfs no choice but to move on after six-plus seasons.