IT’S HAPPENING. HOLY CRAP! IT’S HAPPENING!
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski might have just dropped the biggest Woj bomb to hit Chicago in years! According to the NBA Insider, the Chicago Bulls are officially starting a formal search to hire “a new top executive with full authority on basketball decisions.”
Story filed to ESPN: The Chicago Bulls have started a formal search process to hire a new top executive with full authority on basketball decisions, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 3, 2020
AM I DREAMING!?
While the rumors have been circling the city for months, these words officially put the wheels in motion. After nearly two decades of the same leadership, the Reinsdorfs will finally make the change for which fans have been begging. And while there will always be some skepticism about the true powers these new faces will hold until something actually happens, it’s certainly a MAJOR reveal that the Bulls are selling this new position as one with “full authority.”
With that said, there is still no official word on whether Gar Forman and John Paxson will be out of the organization. The report says Paxson is likely to continue in an advisory role, while Forman’s future is still up for debate, which is basically the same thing we’ve been told to expect by local sources recently.
While I know a GarPax firing is what many want to see, I wouldn’t let that discourage you from expressing some excitement. The Bulls seem to be making it clear that neither will be in a position of power, and with the names being thrown around at the moment, I think we can believe that.
(For what it’s worth, Reinsdorf’s other team, the White Sox, underwent a very similar changing of the guard up top, and it went smoothly, while bringing the sort of change the franchise needed).
But that’s not all. In addition to the “full authority” revelation, Wojnarowski also points out that the Bulls have already planned to ask the Denver Nuggets if they can interview GM Arturas Karnisovas and ditto for Toronto Raptors GM Bobby Webster. Meanwhile, NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson dropped a couple of other names on Michael Reinsdorfs’ list:
Beyond Karnisovas and Webster, here are some other names on Michael Reinsdorf’s list: Pacers’ Chad Buchanan, Heat’s Adam Simon, Jazz’s Justin Zanik, Clippers’ Michael Winger.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 3, 2020
Yup, those are some good teams.
And despite ALL of that, the biggest news of the day might actually be the timeline. While we aren’t sure who the next face of the Bulls organization will be, we do seem to have a general idea of when that face will be named. According to Woj, new management will be in place by the resumption of NBA play (whenever that is), and interviews will basically start immediately:
The Bulls are planning to talk with several possible candidates to lead the franchise and plans to have a new leadership well before any possible resumption of play during the NBA’s shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Interviews will start next week and will be conducted electronically, sources said.
WOW. The Bulls are trying to act fast, and I absolutely love it.
Okay, so now that we KNOW changes are coming to the front office (guys, I’m like so freaking excited), we’ll be all over this over the next several weeks! I’m sure there will be more updates to come shortly, so stick with us!