One year after hiring Arturas Karnisovas, the Chicago Bulls were riding high, first in the Eastern Conference. They never achieved those heights again, and Monday, the Bulls finally pulled the plug.
Chicago fired Karnisovas, their executive vice president of basketball operations, along with general manager Marc Eversley, after six mediocre seasons. Still, in a league full of tanking teams losing on purpose, it’s admirable that Karnisovas kept trying to win — even if his decisions were questionable.
Arturas Karnisovas never recovered from early mistakes
After taking over the Bulls before the 2020-21 season, Karsinovas made his first big decision, one that would haunt him his entire tenure. In the 2020 draft, he used the No. 4 pick in the draft on forward Patrick Williams, who didn’t start during his freshman year at Florida State. Williams never averaged more than 10.2 points or 4.6 rebounds in a season, yet Karnisovas signed him to a five-year extension for $90M — and he started a career-low four games this season.
He gambled early, trading two first-round picks and 21-year-old center Wendell Carter Jr. for Nikola Vucevic, a move that gave them an excellent veteran big man, albeit a costly one. Karnisovas got Lonzo Ball for the low price of a second-round pick, but Ball suffered a serious knee injury and missed the next 2.5 seasons. Alex Caruso was another shrewd acquisiton.
Karnisovas’ first extended offseason also saw the Bulls trade a first-round pick for DeMar DeRozan and swap future All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen for Derrick Jones Jr. It was a win-now plan that looked great for half a season but left the Bulls without draft assets and financial flexibility.
That’s why Williams’ failure to develop and Ball’s unavailability left the Bulls in limbo. When 2022 first-rounder Dalen Terry also disappointed, the Bulls were left thin, especially when All-Star Zach LaVine’s balky knees limited him.
Chicago Bulls disregarded the value of first-round picks
Even when the Bulls traded veterans, Karnisovas seemed to disregard the value of draft picks. He traded Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey, but didn’t get any draft picks despite the Thunder having more picks than any NBA team. Trading DeRozan brought back two second-rounders. Only trading LaVine brought back a first-rounder — but it was the Bulls’ own protected first-round pick, which wouldn’t have conveyed anyway.
This season, they obtained a lot of second-round picks but no firsts, even while flipping Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. Chicago mainly preserved cap space and has already released deadline addition Jaden Ivey.
In the current climate of the NBA, it’s refreshing that Karnisovas and the Bulls kept trying to compete, even after losing in the play-in tournament three straight seasons. But at a certain point, continuing to focus on older players — the Bulls gave Vucevic a lucrative extension ahead of his age-33 season — simply paralyzed the team.
Ultimately, the Karnisovas era will be known for its initial ambition and a subsequent four-year stretch of mediocrity. After so much boldness when he took over, Karnisovas got attached to his own questionable decisions, perhaps in conjunction with the will of Bulls ownership.
The Bulls’ new boss will have massive cap space and a few intriguing players to build around. That’s the biggest positive of Karnisovas’ tenure: allowing his replacement a clean slate, free of all his mistakes.
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