Blame the middlemen? Karnisovas willing to keep Bulls on same course for now
While giving his state of the Bulls address after the NBA trade deadline passed, vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas expressed confidence the team can still make the play-in or playoffs, even after trading Zach LaVine to Sacramento.
“If we're in the play-in and playoffs and our young guys are playing and they're contributing to winning, I think that's a win in terms of their development,” Karnisovas said Thursday at the Advocate Center. “If you're picking high (in the draft), that's also good.”
So it's a win-win situation?
Most fans probably wouldn't agree, but what is Karnisovas supposed to say? He tried giving the rebuild a boost by adding DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso in 2021.
That group had a nice (checks notes) three-month run but ultimately failed to climb the standings. So now the Bulls are trying again, with a vow to learn from past mistakes and giving no timetable.
“We skipped steps and tried to accelerate the process,” Karnisovas said of the 2021 transactions. “I think right now we have an opportunity to kind of play (the retool) slower and evaluate our young guys.”
Both Karnisovas and coach Billy Donovan talked about not wanting to be “stuck in the middle.” But the middle is where they'll stay, for now.
The Bulls have gone 4-6 without LaVine this season, 18-24 with him. There's likely too much talent on the team to take a nose dive. They are the No. 10 seed in the East — in position for their third straight play-in appearance — and it's conceivable they stay there.
Karnisovas talked about using the final 30 games this season to judge the potential of the young group. The only players on the roster who are not under contract for next season are Josh Giddey, a restricted free agent; Talen Horton-Tucker and newcomer Tre Jones.
Once they re-sign Giddey, the Bulls won't have cap space to use this summer. So any wholesale changes would have to involve trading guys like Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu. The loads of cap space won't arrive until 2026.
Of course, it's also possible lightning could strike, the Bulls win the draft lottery in May and Karnisovas is a genius. Right now their odds are 6%.
“We're not OK with being in the middle,” Karnisovas said. “Curating a team that competes at a high level and can compete for a championship has been our goal. It can be a long process and sometimes that requires taking a step back before moving forward.”
Some of Thursday's questions didn't need to be asked. There are better answers here.
Q: Why didn't you trade Vucevic? A: Because no team was eager to take on the $21.5 million he's owed next year, as a center with no history of rim protection.
Q: Why didn't you get more draft picks back in trades? A: Assets are nice, but the Bulls can't find enough playing time for recent draft picks Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips. What are they going to do with more young guys?
Q: Why not tank harder? A: This one is more complicated. The Bulls just got an up-close look at the value of No. 1 overall picks, having lost to Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards in the past week. At the same time the favorite to win MVP, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was a No. 11 overall pick. Nikola Jokic and Jalen Brunson went in the second round.
You can find stars anywhere in the NBA Draft. Just look at current events. Rookie Matas Buzelis, a No. 11 overall pick, is arguably off to a better start than any of the Bulls' four top-seven picks of the past decade.
So there is no correct answer to what comes next. Draft wisely and execute trades when it makes sense. This past week is proof there are always stars on the move in the NBA — Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler, De'Aaron Fox, to name a few. Karnisovas' job is to make the Bulls a desirable destination and have the trade capital handy.
If the Bulls do decide to try an all-out tank, that process probably can't start until the 2026-27 season, which is a really depressing thought.