Gar Forman Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Melton, Cousins, Forman, Aldridge

December 10th, 2020 at 7:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Third-year Grizzlies reserve point guard De’Anthony Melton bought cars for his mother and sister after inking a new four-year, $35MM extension with Memphis, according to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“It’s not a surprise anymore because they already know. But yeah, that’s definitely the first thing, they got cars,” Melton said.

The guard averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG for the 2019/20 season. His modest output last season, however, belies his defensive impact for the club.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

New Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins is enjoying training camp with his new team, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Cousins signed a non-guaranteed, one-year veteran’s minimum deal with Houston after missing all of his 2019/20 season for the eventual champion Lakers with a torn ACL.
The Pelicans have added former Bulls GM Gar Forman to their scouting team as a special advisor, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago details. Johnson notes that Forman has had a long relationship with New Orleans team president David Griffin.
Per the wishes of Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, center/power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been working on his three-point shot during team practices this season, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Though he is a career 31.2% three-point shooter, Aldridge connected on a solid 38.9% of a career-high 3.0 long-range attempts during the 2019/20 season.

Bulls Notes: Boylen, Mini-Camp, Draft, Deng

July 9th, 2020 at 12:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is keeping his promise to evaluate head coach Jim Boylen and his staff before making a decision on their future, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The Bulls have plenty of down time for Karnisovas to interact with Boylen and the other coaches. The team isn’t part of the restart in Orlando and is awaiting word on a possible mini-camp with the other seven non-invited teams.

Karnisovas and new general manager Marc Eversley have been encouraging the staff to focus solely on coaching-related matters and avoid other distractions that arise, Johnson adds. They want management to be in charge of any other issues that involve the team.

Since joining the Bulls, Karnisovas has met frequently with Boylen to watch film, get his opinions on player development and discuss the draft and free agency. Although Boylen remains unpopular with Chicago’s fan base, Karnisovas has pledged not to let public opinion sway his decision.

There’s more from Chicago:

The Bulls would probably be well represented at a gathering of the eight teams not in Orlando, though all players may not participate, Johnson adds in the same piece. One of the most intriguing decisions would involve Lauri Markkanen, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason and may not want to risk an injury with nothing at stake.
Point guard may again be a position of need as the new Bulls management team prepares for the draft, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Kris Dunn hasn’t developed into the play-maker the front office expected, and Coby White, last year’s top pick, seems better suited to play shooting guard. Cowley sees LaMelo Ball, Killian Hayes, Tyrese Haliburton and Cole Anthony as the best point guards available.
In an interview with Carol Tshabalala, Luol Deng blames former GM Gar Forman for destroying the Bulls’ chances at winning a title. “The guy who traded me obviously ruined the team,” Deng said. “I don’t mind saying that now. I would never speak about him as a person, just the decisions he made.” Tom Thibodeau was irate that the front office opted to trade Deng rather than give him a contract extension, Deng adds.

Bulls Notes: Front Office, Boylen, Forman, Paxson

April 13th, 2020 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

On a conference call today introducing new executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf said that it was clear during the search process that the former Denver GM “checked every box,” as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. Reinsdorf admitted that his father, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, ultimately had to sign off on the hire, but said “it was clear after that meeting that we had our guy.”

Karnisovas, meanwhile, confirmed that J.J. Polk and Pat Connelly will join the Bulls’ front office, as previously reported, and said that hiring a general manager is next on his list of priorities. According to Karnisovas, the GM search will be “extensive and diverse,” and the goal will be to hire an executive whose skills complement his own, rather than overlapping significantly with his strengths (all Twitter links via K.C. Johnson).

As for the future of head coach Jim Boylen, that remains up in the air, with Karnisovas telling reporters that there’s no timeline for a decision on Boylen or the coaching staff (Twitter link via Johnson).

Boylen took the unusual step of issuing a welcome message to the new head of basketball operations through the team’s PR department, lauding Karnisovas’ résumé and commending the Reinsdorfs for bringing him aboard.

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Karnisovas offered the following explanation when asked about Gar Forman‘s dismissal: “After some consideration and conversation, it was apparent that we have different philosophies that will prevent us from moving forward. Those decisions are never easy. I was hired to affect change” (Twitter link via Johnson).
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times tweets that Forman’s departure should increase the Bulls’ appeal to free agents. Forman’s presence “poisoned the well” with players and agents, according to Cowley, who says the longtime general manager was viewed as “untrustworthy.”
Confirming a recent report, Michael Reinsdorf said today that it was John Paxson who came to ownership in the winter to suggest the need for changes in the front office (Twitter link via Johnson). Previously the Bulls’ executive VP of basketball operations, Paxson will now be a senior advisor.
After facing some criticism last week for a perceived lack of diversity in the Bulls’ front office search, Reinsdorf defended the team’s record on that front, as Johnson details for NBC Sports Chicago. According to Reinsdorf, two of the six candidates on the team’s short list for head of basketball operations were people of color, but Chicago was denied permission to interview both.
Karnisovas said today that facilitating player development will be one of his primary goals in Chicago, since the Bulls are a young team with a handful of promising young players (Twitter link via Johnson).

Bulls Part Ways With GM Gar Forman

April 13th, 2020 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Bulls executive Gar Forman has been relieved of his duties as general manager and will no longer be involved in the team’s basketball operations department, the team announced today in a press release.

“Gar Forman worked tirelessly for the Chicago Bulls organization, first as a scout and then as an executive,” Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “He made many significant contributions during his time here and helped to bring some of the brightest young basketball talent to our team, from Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson to Jimmy Butler and Coby White.

“He has been a trusted advisor and friend to me over the years, and on behalf of everyone I want to thank him for his commitment to the organization. Gar will always be a part of our Bulls family.”

Forman, who initially joined the Bulls as a scout in 1998, was named director of player personnel in 2004 and was eventually promoted to GM in 2009.

With Chicago revamping its front office and hiring Arturas Karnisovas as the club’s new head of basketball operations, there was an expectation that Forman would either be re-assigned to the scouting department or let go altogether. It appears the team has opted for the latter path.

Forman issued a statement of his own thanking the Reinsdorfs, calling it an “honor and privilege” to have worked for the Bulls for over two decades, and saying that the team “will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Forman had two years left on his contract with the Bulls, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who tweets that the veteran executive will be “in demand” as a scout for other NBA teams.

Bulls Eye Several Assistant GMs For Their GM Job

April 10th, 2020 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Arturas Karnisovas, who is expected to be named the Bulls’ executive VP of basketball operations, will conduct interviews with a number of general manager candidates in the near future, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The Nuggets’ Calvin Booth, the Sixers’ Marc Eversley, the Clippers’ Mark Hughes and the Magic’s Matt Lloyd are among several assistant GMs around the league under consideration, Wojnarowski adds. The Bulls’ office will start seeking permission from other teams to conduct interviews with everyone on their list, Wojnarowski reports in another tweet.

However, Booth could be promoted by Denver to replace Karnisovas, who emerged as Chicago’s choice as its top front office executive on Wednesday.

The Thunder’s Troy Weaver and Nazr Mohammed and the Mavericks’ Michael Finley are also candidates for the GM job, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets.

No matter which executive that Karnisovas chooses, current GM Gar Forman will lose his title. It’s uncertain whether Forman will be reassigned or simply let go by the organization. Karnisovas will decide Forman’s future, according to another Cowley tweet.

Longtime Bulls executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson is expected to remain in an advisory position with Karnisovas and ownership making the final decisions.

The Bulls were reportedly denied permission by the Thunder to speak with Weaver, OKC’s VP of basketball operations, during the search process for an executive VP. Whether the Thunder have changed their stance on Weaver remains to be seen. The Bulls did hold an informal interview with Mohammed recently for another front office job.

Chad Buchanan To Stay With Pacers, Turns Down Interview With Bulls

April 5th, 2020 at 10:05am CST by Arthur Hill

Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan is declining an opportunity to interview for the Bulls‘ top front office position, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Buchanan decided to remain in his current job, saying he and his family have been treated well by the organization.

Toronto’s Bobby Webster, Miami’s Adam Simon and Denver’s Arturas Karnisovas are the most prominent remaining candidates for the position, Charania adds, but Chicago will continue to research other possibilities (Twitter link).

Buchanan, who is in his third year as Indiana’s GM, also worked with president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard in Portland before they both came to Indiana. His comfort level with that partnership played a strong role in the decision to stay, a source tells K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

The Bulls are seeking permission to interview Webster, Simon and Karnisovas, according to Johnson, who adds that team president Michael Reinsdorf hopes to fill the position before the NBA hiatus is over. Whoever is ultimately hired to run the organization may make more hires and will launch an overhaul of the scouting department.

Executive vice president John Paxson is expected to be retained in an advisory role, but the fate of former GM Gar Forman, who is now working mainly in scouting, may be determined by the new regime. Reinsdorf is still a strong supporter of coach Jim Boylen, Johnson notes, but the fate of all the coaches will be decided by the new team president.

Assistant GM Steve Weinman is believed to be safe, Johnson writes. He has built a strong reputation for his expertise with salary cap issues and the collective bargaining agreement.

Bulls To Seek Interviews With Karnisovas, Webster, Others

April 3rd, 2020 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

1:24pm: Pacers GM Chad Buchanan will join Karnisovas and Webster on the Bulls’ list of first-wave interview targets, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Sources tell Darnell Mayberry and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Heat assistant GM Adam Simon will be part of that group as well.

According to Mayberry (Twitter link), the Bulls won’t pursue Ujiri or Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti and won’t go the player-agent route like New York and other teams have.

12:41pm: The Bulls have formally launched their search for a new top front office executive who will have full authority on basketball decisions, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. We had previously heard in a series of February reports that the team was laying the groundwork for front office changes.

Those February reports suggested that executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson would retain a “valuable seat at the table” amidst the front office upheaval and that general manager Gar Forman would have his responsibilities cut back.

Wojnarowski confirms that Paxson is expected to continue in an advisory role and says that the club will have more conversations with Forman about his future. Previous reports indicated Forman would likely be re-assigned to a scouting position.

According to Wojnarowski, Chicago plans to seek permission to interview Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas and Raptors GM Bobby Webster, among others. The club’s goal is to complete its planned front office changes “well before” the NBA resumes play, per Woj, who hears that interviews will begin next week and will be conducted virtually rather than in person due to the coronavirus.

Neither Karnisovas nor Webster is the head of basketball operations for his respective team — Tim Connelly serves as Denver’s president of basketball operations, while Masai Ujiri holds that position in Toronto. However, the two GMs have risen through their respective organizations in recent years and have played important roles in building the Nuggets’ and Raptors’ talented rosters.

According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who identified Karnisovas and Webster as two possible targets for the Bulls in a March mailbag, Pacers GM Chad Buchanan, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, Jazz GM Justin Zanik, and Clippers GM Michael Winger are among the other executives on Bulls president/COO Michael Reinsdorf‘s list of potential candidates (Twitter link).

Many of those executives are under contract beyond the 2019/20 season, but likely wouldn’t be held back by their respective teams if the Bulls’ job is viewed as a promotion from their current roles. Based on Woj’s description, it should be.

The timing of Chicago’s search is interesting. Ujiri spoke earlier this week about putting business like contract extensions for himself and Nick Nurse on hold during the NBA’s stoppage, and we heard on Thursday that the Knicks aren’t pursuing front office changes or a new head coach during the hiatus. Nets GM Sean Marks also said this week that his team isn’t moving forward with its head coach search at this time.

However, no official hiring or firing freeze has been instituted by the NBA, and the Bulls’ situation is a little different from that of those other teams — a new top front office executive would lead the team’s decisions in the draft and free agency, making that search a more pressing matter than a head coaching hire, lower-level front office changes, or extensions for current execs and coaches.

Central Notes: Love, Pacers, Forman, Nance

March 20th, 2020 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers continue to value Kevin Love highly and don’t regret giving him a four-year, $120MM contract extension, according to Chris Fedor of the Clev eland Plain Dealer. Love’s attitude and play improved once J.B. Bickerstaff replaced John Beilein as head coach after the All-Star break. The Cavs don’t feel the need to dump salary this offseason, Fedor continues, so in any Love deal they’d want some combination of draft picks and young players.

We have more from around the Central Division:

The coronavirus pandemic could impact renovations planned for the Pacers‘ Bankers Fieldhouse prior to next season’s All-Star game, Scott Agness of The Athletic writes. Some work has already begun but the renovations were scheduled to ramp up once the season ended. Phase one (of three) is supposed to be completed before the All-Star Game but if Indiana’s games resume this season and last into July, it could impact those scheduled renovations prior to next season.
Bulls GM Gar Forman has essentially been reduced to a lead scout, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The franchise is expected to overhaul its front office once the league shutdown is lifted. Forman will lose his GM title and will have no decision-making authority once the restructuring is completed, Cowley adds.
Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr. is especially concerned about COVID-19 due to other health factors, as Kelsey Russo of The Athletic explains. Nance was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager. Since the illness is treated with immunosuppressive medication, he is more susceptible to infections in general. “You’d hear every now and again somebody say like, ‘Oh we’re blowing this out of proportion, it’s not that big of a deal.’ And for me, it was like, ‘What?’ This is a huge deal,” Nance said.

Bulls Preparing For Front Office Changes

February 16th, 2020 at 7:57pm CST by Luke Adams

7:57pm: K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago echoes many of Cowley’s points in his own report, writing that talk has been “rampant throughout All-Star weekend” about the changes the Bulls are expected to make to their front office. The team is seeking someone to take on the day-to-day basketball operations and become a “fresh voice and face of the franchise,” writes Johnson.

7:21pm: The Bulls are in the early stages of adding a new executive to their front office, sources tell Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. According to Cowley, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and COO Michael Reinsdorf have begun to do legwork – through back channels – on potential candidates.

Cowley, who suggests the Bulls are in the market for a general manager “with a louder voice,” writes that the search is expected to be widespread. Gar Forman still holds the GM role in Chicago for now, but senior advisor Doug Collins is among those who are in favor of a change, according to Cowley.

As Cowley explains, the idea would be for Paxson to “slip into the background” as the new general manager assumes media duties. Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf likes the model employed by the Chicago White Sox, with Ken Williams in the background as the VP while Rick Hahn has been more empowered in his GM role. For the Bulls, Paxson would take on a Williams-esque role, with the new GM playing Hahn’s part.

Forman, meanwhile, would likely be reassigned to a scouting position rather than being fired, per Cowley, who notes that the team wants to build up its scouting department this spring.

Paxson and Forman have headed the Bulls’ front office for over a decade, much to the chagrin of a significant faction of Bulls fans. During Friday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take, when guard Zach LaVine was asked whether he has confidence in Chicago’s decision-makers, the fans in attendance began to boo and a chant of “Fire GarPax!” broke out (link via Madeline Kenney of The Chicago Sun-Times).

Assuming the Bulls do move forward with the front office changes Cowley outlines in his report, it’ll be interesting to see whether the club sticks with head coach Jim Boylen, who has received the full support of the current group. Boylen’s current contract isn’t a long-term deal, so it’s possible a new GM would be given the go-ahead to make the call on his future.

Central Notes: Porter Jr., Oladipo, Green, Forman

December 27th, 2019 at 9:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

One of the big reasons why the Cavaliers made the Jordan Clarkson trade was to open up minutes for rookie Kevin Porter Jr., according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The team was aware that Clarkson would likely leave as an unrestricted free agent over the summer, while Porter is one of the team’s building blocks, Fedor continues. Teammates, coaches and members of the front office have raved about Porter’s talent for months, Fedor adds, and by moving Clarkson there’s more playing time available for the 30th overall pick in the draft.

We have more from the Central Division:

While ESPN reported that Victor Oladipo is aiming to return in late January or early February, Pacers coach Nate McMillan insists no timetable has been set for his star guard’s return, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star relays. Oladipo continues to work his way back from a serious quad injury suffered last season.“No. We haven’t come up with a date,” McMillan said. “I saw that report. We haven’t come up with a timeline for him to return.”
Veteran forward Jeff Green could fill a need for the Bulls, according to Michael Walton of NBC Sports Chicago. They are dealing with injuries at the small forward spot and Green, who was waived by Utah earlier this week, could help in that area. Otto Porter Jr.‘s foot ailment seems to be a long-term issue, Walton notes. The Bulls would have to open up a roster spot to sign Green since they’re currently at the maximum level.
Gar Forman’s draft record with the Bulls has been solid but unspectacular over the past four years with the club in rebuild mode, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times opines. Forman’s best pick was selecting Lauri Markkanen in the 2017 draft, Cowley notes.