(670 The Score) Nearly three full seasons into their rebuild, the Bulls underwent a major overhaul Monday, when they officially hired Arturas Karnisovas as their executive vice president of basketball operations, reassigned John Paxson to an advisory role and fired longtime general manager Gar Forman.
Karnisovas takes over as the Bulls are stalled amid a 22-43 campaign that has been halted by the coronavirus pandemic. He takes over an organization that has struggled to take the next step in its rebuilding process in large part because its young core hasn't developed as Paxson and Forman envisioned.
For Karnisovas, exploring the Bulls' roster makeup and how each player can grow is one of the most pressing items on his agenda.
"One of my primary goals is to establish player development," Karnisovas said on a conference call Monday. "We are the second-youngest team in the league. Great young core. The Bulls drafted well. Players want to play. But at the end of the day, they want to win. My job is going to be to facilitate that. It was a huge thing for us in Denver, and it's going to be huge for us here in Chicago."
Karnisovas has already made one hire to address his goal. Pat Connelly will join Chicago as its player personnel guru after working with Karnisovas in Denver, which did a good job in fostering the development of All-Star center Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray, among others.
One big concern for the Bulls has been third-year big man Lauri Markkanen's regression. He was averaging career-low marks of 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 50 games when the season was suspended. On multiple occasions, Markkanen lamented the manner in which he was being utilized by coach Jim Boylen in the Bulls' offense.
While he can't meet with players in person yet, Karnisovas is using tools like Zoom to connect with the Bulls as he starts making plans.
"We're going to have to improve our players," Karnisovas said. "There's three ways of building teams. It's through your draft, through free agency and through trades. I think building through the draft and developing your players is the key to get better every year."
