Bulls Fire Top Execs Arturas Karnisovas, Marc Eversley
The Bulls have fired Arturas Karnisovas, the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, and Marc Eversley, their general manager, according to a press release.
“Arturas and Marc have led with a deep commitment to the Chicago Bulls. These decisions are never easy, especially when they involve people we respect both personally and professionally,” Bulls CEO and president Michael Reinsdorf said in a statement. “We are grateful for their dedication and the work they’ve put in over the past six years.
“At the same time, we have not had the success our fans deserve, and it’s my responsibility to go in a new direction. This move is about positioning our team for sustained success moving ahead. I want our fans to know that I hear you and understand the frustration. I feel it as well. I know this will take time, and I am fully committed to getting this right. At the Chicago Bulls, our focus remains on building a team that can compete at the highest level and ultimately contend for championships. We are committed to taking the necessary steps to move the Bulls forward in a way that makes our fans proud.”
The Bulls have gone through several roster upheavals since hiring Karnisovas and Eversley, yet the team has been stuck in an endless cycle of mediocrity. Both men arrived in Chicago in 2020 to revive a franchise that dominated the NBA landscape in the 1990s. The club improved its record from 31-41 in 2020/21 to 46-36 the following season but the franchise has been spinning its wheels since that point.
The Bulls have posted losing records ever since, with win totals of 40, 39 and 39 over the past three seasons. Chicago is 29-49 after the front office made several moves during the trade deadline that once again put the franchise in rebuild mode. The Bulls haven’t won a playoff series in 11 consecutive seasons, counting this lottery-bound campaign.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (Twitter link), the replacements for Karnisovas and Eversley will have plenty of work to do this offseason. Chicago can be aggressive with $65MM of cap space, along with its lottery pick.
This also increases the uncertainty regarding the status of head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan was reportedly a candidate for the North Carolina head coaching job, but the Tar Heels on Monday chose to hire former Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
Reinsdorf is expected to address the media at some point on Tuesday. Reinsdorf, along with senior advisor John Paxson, Brian Hagen, Pat Connelly and JJ Polk, will collectively lead the basketball operations department during the executive search, according to Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson (Twitter link).