Bulls fire VP Karnisovas and GM Eversley; Donovan likely to stay

The Final Four was buzzing with speculation about Bulls coach Billy Donovan becoming the top target for North Carolina's vacancy.

But the dominoes fell quickly on Monday afternoon. First, ESPN reported former Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone will become the next head coach of the Tar Heels, strongly suggesting Donovan wasn't interested.

Roughly an hour later, the Bulls officially announced they had parted ways with the basketball operations team of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.

This could mean the Bulls plan to give Donovan a greater say in basketball operations, while continuing to coach.

Donovan, 60, spoke Sunday about his enthusiasm for continuing to coach, whether it be with the Bulls, college or another NBA team.

“I love coaching,” Donovan said. “I love being around everybody I'm around. The (players) are in a tough situation with the amount of turnover we had. I think they've really tried to put their best foot forward. There's been certain challenges that we've had to overcome with our roster injury and those things, but in terms of my passion or energy to still do it, I really enjoy doing it.”

Donovan also mentioned team ownership, likely knowing what was in store Monday.

“I love the organization,” he said.” I've loved the relationship with Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf, the relationship with the front office. All those things have been great, the players have been great.”

The Bulls hired Karnisovas from the Denver Nuggets on April 13, 2000, shortly after breaking up the previous management team of John Paxson and Gar Forman. Since then, the Bulls made the playoffs once, during the 2021-22 season, but never made much progress, losing in the play-in tournament three years in a row from 2023-25.

The Bulls made a flurry or trades at the February deadline this season, sending away Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu and others.

The team released this statement from Michael Reinsdorf: “I want our fans to know that I hear you and understand your frustration. I feel it as well. I know this will take time, and I am fully committed to getting this right.”

Regarding Karnisovas and Eversley, Reinsdorf wrote: “We have not had the success our fans deserve, and it’s my responsibility to go in a new direction. This move is about positioning our team for sustained success moving ahead.”

The Bulls were in the news last week for releasing guard Jaden Ivey after he posted controversial comments on his Instagram live. Ivey was acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline but had been out for the season with a knee injury.