NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls are evidently all-in on Arturas Karnisovas.
Earlier today, The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry reported that the Bulls’ front office leader has already received a new contract: “One source said the Bulls quietly handed an extension to Karnišovas recently as well.”
This report follows Joe Cowley (The Sun-Times), who reported back in April that head coach Billy Donovan was not the only member of the organization to receive a behind-the-scenes extension. Indeed, while he didn’t share names, Cowley wrote that most of the “major players throughout the front office” received extensions.
So while Mayberry’s report is the first time we have seen a Karnisovas extension specifically mentioned, I already presumed he fell into the “major players” category. Here’s what I said about the wisdom of that decision at the time.
If the goal for the organization is to reach sustained success, how can you extend the entire brain trust after only one solid season? And I want to really emphasize the use of a word like “solid” and not “great.” The Bulls finished 6th in the East. That’s one spot out of the Play-In Tournament. They went on to lose 4-1 in the first round to the Milwaukee Bucks and three of those losses were by 16 or more points. Again, it was a step in the right direction, but was it worthy of a self-indulgent extension spree? Clearly not.
I’m not saying that I planned to call for anyone’s head in the front office or coaching staff after this season. Particularly when it comes to Billy Donovan, I think the criticism has been a bit overblown. But what makes me really uncomfortable is the fact that the people who built this incredibly flawed roster are now less likely to see any sort of repercussions.
Karnisovas, who joined the Bulls in April 2020, just finished his third full season at the helm of the organization. The team has gone 117-119 over that stretch, recording one winning season in 2021-22 before seeing their postseason dreams dashed by the Milwaukee Bucks in five games.
Chicago followed up that winning season with a borderline disastrous 40-42 campaign. After investing significant draft capital and dollars into players like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls were supposed to leave the Play-In Tournament in their dust. Instead, they barely clawed their way into the first stage of postseason action as the East’s No. 10 seed. After winning one game against the Toronto Raptors, they fell to the Miami Heat with an on-brand late-game collapse.
While there is no denying Chicago has been more competitive since Karnisovas arrived, the bar was disturbingly low. We’ve only seen him raise it thus far from the doomsday shelter to the basement. However, I guess that is enough for owner Jerry Reinsdorf to write another “secret” paycheck!
Speaking of which … What’s with all the freakin’ secrecy!?
I understand that extensions for executives aren’t made public as often as they are for coaches. But the Bulls’ general unwillingness to share this news is still off-putting. If you believe in your guys, make it known! Acting in silence comes off as trying to avoid public backlash.
I thought the new regime would be above all this drama.
Here’s some related reading, if you’re interested.
