NEWSLETTER
Earlier today, the Chicago Bulls made their GM hire official, with executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas welcoming Marc Eversley to the team during an introductory phone conference. Together, the duo discussed the organization’s next steps, but Eversley, alone, focused on selling his vision of the Bulls future.
If you ask me, he hit 4-4 with three home runs and 7 RBI during this press conference, so let’s go over some of what he had to say.
• Eversley made clear the one thing every GM should – He’s here to win championships:
Eversley: "Everything starts and ends with winning. Our mindset will be about excellence day in and day out. Bulls fans, hear me when I say our ultimate goal is to bring a championship back to the city of Chicago."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 1, 2020
• Sure, it might be cliché, but like a band leader inserting the name of whatever city they’re visiting into a hit song, this will always garner a positive reaction. Eversley continued to drive home this point and mentioned player development as the key avenue toward establishing a winning culture. The Bulls have failed to point players in the right direction over the past several years, and this has dug the franchise a massive hole. The main reason for this has been the organization’s old school structure, something Eversley was quick to point out Friday afternoon:
Eversley: "I really believe winning starts from a foundation of player development. I was surprised to find there was one player development coach on the staff as I was doing my research for this job. That's a helluva job for one person to take on."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 1, 2020
• LOL. This man is sassing his predecessors on his first day! I mean, we’ve heard he’s good at building relationships, so I guess he’s doing exactly that with the fan base from the start.
• Eversley is 100 percent right, though. Not only is today’s NBA built of young, raw talent, but the Bulls specifically have the second-youngest roster in the NBA. Executives and analysts across the league would agree Chicago has some solid pieces on their team. These same people would’ve likely agreed that they weren’t going to amount to much within the past organizational structure.
• Not to be overlooked, Eversley also sassed the program as a whole:
Eversley on Bulls from afar: "I noticed that they're not necessarily a strong rebounding team or shot it particularly well this year. We're committed to turning this program around."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 1, 2020
• Oof. So what is Eversley looking for?
Eversley on his preferred style of play: “I like teams that play fast and share the ball. I put a heavy emphasis on basketball IQ. Players that play the right way – we want winners on the court at all times.”
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 1, 2020
• Eversley also added “Defensively, I like players who are versatile and can switch. I believe in rim protection.” This isn’t something that will be done overnight, and that Eversley fesses up to it is refreshing.
• Honest answers only: How many players on the Bulls’ active roster check all those boxes?
• K.C. Johnson landed some one-on-one time with Eversley in a video chat. You can explore it in its entirety here, but one quote from Eversley speaks volumes as to the Bulls’ current construction.
“It’s a really, really young roster. There are a couple players who regressed a little bit last year. I’ll certainly want to learn more about that. Coby White, I thought he had a really nice rookie year. Wendell Carter, I think, is a really nice piece and somebody we can look to grow with in the future. Lauri (Markkanen) is a modern-day stretch four. I think he’s got a great stroke. He’s got a wonderful shooting touch. He regressed a little bit last year. I’d love to learn about that.”
• I, too, would like to learn more about that, Mr. Eversley.
• The money quote from Eversley, via K.C.: “I think it’s a nice roster. I think there are definitely some pieces who we can move forward with as we grow this program.”
• Watching the Bulls program grow with a new regime >>> watching it stall out under the old guard.
• Make the Bulls cool again, please:
New #Bulls GM Marc Eversley: "It’s my hope that I can take some of the lessons that I’ve learned at Nike and implement them here with Chicago as a goal to get the Chicago Bulls back to relevancy and get that brand back to where it’s cool again and kids want to be part of it."
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) May 1, 2020
• Some front office guys might say something like “organizations win championships” … while others might offer this up:
Eversley: “One of my mottos is players first. You have to create a players-first mentality… We’re going to do a pretty diligent job in terms of looking for the proper staff to work with our young guys. Player development is going to be a big focus of this org. moving forward."
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 1, 2020
• It’s a players league. So creating an organization with a “players-first mentality” is a step in the right direction.
• A reminder that this thing isn’t going to get turned around overnight:
Eversley says he doesn't plan to make any personnel or front office decisions until he gets a chance to be in Chicago and meet everyone face-to-face. #Bulls
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHBulls) May 1, 2020
• Rob Schafer (NBC Sports Chicago) pulled out a notable quote from Eversley’s conference call with reporters: “Coach (Boylen) and I did have a conversation earlier in the week where he called to congratulate me on the position. Just like anything else on our staff, we are going to utilize our time to evaluate everybody on staff — not only players, coaches, but also people in the front office, as well.”
• It comes as no surprise that there isn’t an immediate decision to be made on Boylen’s future. As much as we might want swift and decisive action, who is coaching the Bulls in May 2020 is the last thing on anyone’s mind. The time to think big picture is now. Hence, the patience and restraint being shown on the front office’s side of things.
• A front office of Karnisovas and Eversley covers a lot of ground:
Karnisovas: The luxury we have is we come from different programs. We can take the best scouting practices and player development ideas and then implement them. We're going to share responsibilities.
Karnisovas said both execs will deal with media.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 1, 2020
• This is a really powerful statement:
Eversley: “I’m a black man in a leadership position in a city with so many black youths… this position with the Bulls gives me the resources to drive some change. We can all do better and do more. I want to take the opportunity to become a role model for a lot of young youth."
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 1, 2020
Luis Medina contributed to this post.
