Chicago Bulls make sweeping changes in front office
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The Chicago Bulls of the NBA have made major changes in their front office. They’ve dismissed executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Mark Eversley, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
The Bulls have been no better than mediocre since the Karnisovas-Eversley partnership started in 2020. Under their watch, the Bulls went 224-254, made one playoff appearance, and are now out of the postseason for the fourth straight season.
Vucevic trade
In the 2020 trade deadline, the group traded for Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu from the Orlando Magic. They gave up Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, and a first-round pick from the 2021 and 2023 NBA drafts.
Vucevic was a two-time All-Star at that point, but the Magic used those picks to draft Franz Wagner (2021 NBA draft) and Jett Howard (2023 NBA draft). Meanwhile, the Bulls traded Vucevic to the Boston Celtics for Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick.
LaVine-Markkanen trade
There was also the outcome of the Lauri Markkanen-Zach LaVine trade. The previous regime acquired both of them from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler, and early on, the Bulls were the winners of the deal. LaVine became an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 while Markkanen showed promise.
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However, the Karnisovas-Eversley regime messed up on both of them. They signed LaVine to a max contract in the middle of the 2022 season, making him basically untradeable until they agreed on a deal with the Sacramento Kings in 2025. The Bulls shipped off LaVine along with three first-round picks to the Kings.
Meanwhile, they became impatient on Markkanen’s development, so in 2021, they traded him to the rival Cleveland Cavaliers for Derrick Jones Jr. and a first-round pick. The Cavaliers traded him a year later to the Utah Jazz, where Markkanen became an All-Star and won the Most Improved Player award in 2023.
Previous tenures
Before Eversley’s tenure in Chicago, he was the assistant GM for the Toronto Raptors (2006-13), the VP of player personnel for the Washington Wizards (2013-16), and the Vice President of the Philadelphia 76ers Player Staff (2016-20).
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Karnisovas previously served as the Denver Nuggets’ general manager from 2017-20. The Nuggets went 146-91 in his tenure, but his biggest move was signing Atlanta Hawks power forward Paul Millsap to a three-year, $91 million contract. He also facilitated a draft-day trade in 2017 that brought Donovan Mitchell to the Utah Jazz.
