Chicago Bulls Rumors: Front office has green light for any move

Chicago Bulls lead basketball executive Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley will address reporters upon the conclusion of the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night.

Though, at this juncture, it remains to be seen exactly what Karnisovas and Eversley will focus on considering that the Bulls do not hold a pick in either round of the draft.

Reports throughout the week were that the Bulls were looking to get into the first round of the draft and that is not something that can be accomplished easily.

All-Stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan certainly would net the Bulls a first-round pick as part of a trade package but outside of those two, veteran point guard Alex Caruso may be the only other player that the team could move for a first-round pick.

Given the failures that have been the past two seasons of Bulls’ basketball, nothing should be off the table for the team’s front office this summer.

That is why it is encouraging that Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reported that the Bulls’ front office has full autonomy to take the team in whatever direction they see fit:

"According to team sources, Karnišovas has the green light from ownership to steer the franchise how he sees fit. Whichever direction he chooses is said to be his call, free of interference or influence from his bosses.-Darnell Mayberry via The Athletic"

There are multiple directions to take this story. The first is that if Karnisovas has full control to make whatever decisions he deems fit for this Bulls’ basketball, then there absolutely is no reason for the Bulls to remain on the sideline during tonight’s draft.

The Chicago Bulls front office is being set up to take the fall with the latest report.

To that end, there is one direction to take this team and that is a complete rebuild. A rebuild that would consist of the Bulls trading LaVine and DeRozan for a package of young players and draft pick compensation and letting center Nikola Vucevic walk in free agency.

No version of this current Bulls’ core is going to be good enough for the team to be a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. If ownership is not mandating that the Bulls’ compete, a complete teardown is the rightful next step.

The story also provides the Bulls’ ownership group with an out. If the workings of Karnisovas and Eversly continue to fail, then Michael Reinsdorf and company can fall back on the idea that they were not involved with the decisions that were made when there inevitably is a new front office structure for the team.