The Bulls are finalizing a deal to hire Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas as their next executive vice president of basketball operations, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported late Wednesday night. Karnisovas, 48, will take over for John Paxson, who had been in his head of basketball operations role since 2003.
The addition of Karnisovas will be the biggest move in the Bulls' shakeup but far from the only one. He'll be tasked with hiring a new general manager, building out the scouting infrastructure and evaluating the future of coach Jim Boylen and his staff. It wasn't immediately clear what the future holds for Paxson and former general manager Gar Forman. Paxson has long been expected to remain with the Bulls in an advisory capacity, but he's also willing to step down altogether, according to reports.
Karnisovas conducted two interviews remotely with the Bulls over the past several days. The most recent one came Wednesday afternoon, per reports, when he talked with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and chief operating officer Michael Reinsdorf, who spearheaded the team's search for a new executive.
Karnisovas has worked in the Nuggets' front office since 2013, playing a key role as Denver built a Western Conference contender primarily through the draft. He has drawn praise for his scouting acumen, his work in helping foster player development, his attention to detail and his worldwide basketball connections. Karnisovas is credited with helping the Nuggets find and draft star center Nikola Jokic in the second round in 2014. In years past, Karnisovas had been a candidate for the Nets and Bucks in their front office searches.
Karnisovas is a Lithuania native who represented his nation in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, winning a bronze medal each time. He played at Seton Hall from 1990-'94 before embarking on a long international playing career across the best leagues in Europe. Because of his background, Karnisovas has relationships around the world.
Karnisovas got his start in the NBA by working in the league office, where he helped run its EuroCamp. He then scouted for the Rockets for five seasons before joining the Nuggets.
There figures to be a learning curve for Karnisovas in his new leading role in a basketball-crazy big market. He wasn't a public-facing executive in Denver, where president of basketball operations Tim Connelly ran the show and primarily dealt with the media. So Karnisovas will need to grow accustomed to being the face of the franchise after mostly working behind the scenes.
Karnisovas was part of the Nuggets front office that engineered a draft night trade that fleeced the Bulls in 2014. Denver traded wing Doug McDermott (the No. 11 overall pick) for the No. 16 and No. 19 picks, which turned into center Jusuf Nurkic, a quality player whom the Nuggets have since traded, and guard Gary Harris, who has been a starter for the team for the past five seasons.
The Nuggets were 43-22 and third in the West when the NBA suspended its season in March due to the coronavirus. They advanced to the Western Conference semifinals last year.
The Reinsdorfs tabbing someone outside of the Bulls organization to run basketball operations was a first. Paxson was a player, assistant coach and broadcaster for the Bulls before chairman Jerry Reinsdorf named him general manager in 2003. The late Jerry Krause worked in the Bulls organization in the 1970s before Reinsdorf named him general manager in 1985. Krause had a stint working in baseball in between.