(670 The Score) With the start of NBA free agency looming in three days, Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas on Monday again emphasized that the team wants to keep retain its continuity and grow from there while adding help around the core.
“For me, No. 1 is continuity,” Karnisovas said on the Mully & Haugh Show. “The turnover was so, so big (over the past two seasons). As a team, we have only two players left from the team that we took over two years ago. So the continuity is huge for us. Also, development of our players, that they are getting better every day in the Advocate Center. And of course, the experience that they had this year, also getting some playoff experience is going to serve them well. So, you know, I said that after the season that the teams that we are fighting against, they have had their core for three or four years. And we’ve been together since last October. We need that time still to get familiar with each other and how to play with each other. So any additional time that we get together is good.”
With that as context, starting center Nikola Vucevic remains in the Bulls’ plans after amid an offseason in which Chicago has been tied to Utah star center Rudy Gobert and New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in the rumor mill. Karnisovas also echoed what general manager Marc Eversley mentioned Thursday night – the Bulls need more size, which likely means adding a backup center who protects the rim better than Vucevic.
“Yes,” Karnisovas responded when asked if he sees Vucevic as the center of the team. “Another year playing together, continuity again. I think we’re going to address some things in free agency. We need to get bigger. We need some rim protection. We need some shooting. So we’re going to look to get better a little bit in free agency and see what our final product looks like.”
The Bulls have the $10.3-million non-taxpayer mid-level exception and the $4.1-million biannual exception to use in free agency. They also hold a $5-million trade exception that expires on July 7, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. Chicago went 46-36 and lost in the first round of the playoffs this past season.
“The core guys that we have right now, that’s a great group of players,” Karnisovas said. “We just have to look for ways to improve.
“We’re going to be pretty aggressive in looking for new additions.”
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