NEWSLETTER
Earlier today, the Bulls officially announced the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas as executive VP of basketball operations, and the organization proceeded to fire Gar Forman and re-assign John Paxson to a senior advisory role. In other words, the GarPax era is OVER (I still can’t believe it).
Indeed, a total front office restructure is in full effect and – wait, what’s that? Why the heck is Jim Boylen opening his mouth right now?
Statement from Bulls coach Jim Boylen on the front office changes in Chicago: pic.twitter.com/zWx3zMw3Gg
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) April 13, 2020
In a rather bizarre move, the head coach released a … rather bizarre statement earlier today on the front office changes, and here’s what he had to say:
“I want to welcome Arturas to the Chicago Bulls. He has a wealth of experience as a player and executive, and a strong reputation within the basketball community. I commend Jerry and Michael for bringing Arturas on board.
I am thankful for the support that John and Gar provided me and my staff when I became our head coach. Their commitment and belief in our team played a key role in helping me establish a foundation for how I want to coach our team. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate that. I wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
Is it just me, or is this extremely … off?
Why Boylen – or the Bulls? – found it necessary for him to comment on this front office overhaul is beyond me. With many fans crossing their fingers that he’s the next to go, this just feels completely tone-deaf. And whether it was intentional or not, the overly complimentary nature of his message is just plain strange. We *ALL* know his job is – at best – on the line, so this just came across a little desperate. I mean he might as well have said: This ownership is so smart and my new boss is super duper cool. If I had to pick who would win in a fight between Arturas and Dwyane The Rock Johnson, it would be Arturas 10 times out of 10. He also smells so good, and I bet he makes the best chili. What a great and beautiful soul.
And in any case, I’m not sure Boylen can save his job at this point, as much as he may try. I would say it’s exceedingly rare for an organization to undergo such major organizational change without eventually starting a search for a new head coach.
The keyword, however, is “eventually.” I’m not sure we have any reason to believe Boylen will be fired ASAP. Karnisovas has bigger fish to fry, and that’s something NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson continues to remind us:
Bulls release statement from Jim Boylen in which he commends the Reinsdorfs for hiring Arturas Karnisovas.
As previously reported, Karnisovas' current focus is on building front office, not the coaching situation.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 13, 2020
I don’t see any kind of future between the Bulls and Boylen beyond this season, but I think it might take an official end to the 2019-20 campaign for that decision to become final. Karnisovas is first tasked with fixing the infrastructure, and once progress has been made there, he’ll likely shift to the team itself. For the time being, the team is acting like Boylen is still part of the picture, but I think it’s more of a formality than a sign of what’s to come.
Karnisovas has spoken with Boylen already about a style of play, and Michael Reinsdorf mentioned the head coach, while listing off people with which he looks forward to speaking. However, Johnson made sure to mention that none of this dialogue hints at Boylen’s job security.
Arturas Karnisovas having dialogue with Jim Boylen shouldn't be read as any final decision on Boylen's future. Just part of process of getting to know all areas of franchise as he makes final determinations.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 13, 2020
If Johnson is going out of his way to make this note, I think it’s safe to say Boylen’s position is still very much on the line.
Our expectation might be for Karnisovas to make rapid, significant changes across the board (since that’s kind of what he’s doing), but let’s remember Boylen is probably the least of his worries for now (there’s not even any games!). As of today, I still fully expect him to fix that problem when the time comes.
