Latest news with #ArtūrasKarnišovas
New York Times
30-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Did Bulls take step forward or step back? They're in same place they always are
Depending on your perspective, the Chicago Bulls either took a step forward or a step back this season. 'We took a step forward this year,' Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said in his season-ending news conference on April 17. 'We took a step back this season to reposition and retool,' general manager Marc Eversley said after the draft Wednesday. Advertisement The funny thing is they finished 39-43 and in ninth place in the East for the second straight year. So, with apologies to Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat, maybe the Bulls took one step forward and one step back. To be fair, Karnišovas was talking about the progress the young players (well, some of them) made during the season, and Eversley was speaking about the team's strategy going into the season. But no matter how you look at it, the Bulls remained constant: a sub-.500 team known mostly for infuriating its fans. Did I mention these two guys reportedly got contract extensions, along with coach Billy Donovan? Never let it be said Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf's standards are too high. On Wednesday, the Bulls made a move that I championed by drafting a long-term project in 18-year-old French forward Noa Essengue. Because I have little to no faith in the front office, I think this move made the most sense if the goal is to be relevant. Like a degenerate gambler, they need a bet to hit. Essengue might not amount to anything, but he embodies hope. He's raw, but he's young, tall and gifted. This team must take risks because the front office gives it a disadvantage. Whether the Bulls develop Essengue is another question. To follow that move, on Friday, Chicago traded Lonzo Ball straight-up to Cleveland for Isaac Okoro. Once again, no draft picks are coming the Bulls' way. This is why I stressed that they need to take chances like drafting Essengue over ready-made college players like Derik Queen or Carter Bryant. For the second straight summer, the Bulls did a favor for a contending team and received the bare minimum in return. The failures of this front office to sustain a competitive team and their disregard for a common-sense approach to rebuilding have again made the team a curiosity in the NBA and an object of ridicule in Chicago. Advertisement Last year, the Bulls dealt Alex Caruso, their most valuable trade chip, to the Oklahoma City Thunder for point guard Josh Giddey, whom the Thunder were looking to move. Caruso was the kind of player OKC needed to win a title, and lo and behold, it worked out exactly as planned. This time around, Cleveland, which should battle Indiana as the top team in the East next season, was looking to get out of the last two years of Okoro's three-year, $33 million deal and add a backup point guard capable of meaningful minutes. We'll see how that unfolds this season. Giddey, meanwhile, had his moments. Chicago is obsessed with being an uptempo offensive team and Giddey can be the perfect kind of point guard for that strategy. But as a restricted free agent, with free agency starting Monday, he'll likely be asking for a deal so offensive your father-in-law will be complaining about it for the next four years. Okoro averaged about 14 minutes per game for the Cavs in the playoffs (five fewer than the regular season) and scored a total of 41 points in nine games. He's a defensive wing, which the Bulls could use, but not a difference maker. He'll be a rotational player for a losing team. In the deal, the Cavs got out of an extra year of his contract (around $11 million) and acquired Ball, who could play a productive role off the bench, provided he stays healthy. In the Caruso trade, it was especially maddening that the Bulls didn't get a draft pick along with Giddey, considering that the Thunder had a treasure trove of picks in the future. It's like going trick or treating at the biggest house in your neighborhood and not getting a full-size candy bar. After this year's trade deadline, The Athletic's John Hollinger wrote: 'According to a league source, the Bulls had a firm offer to get a first-round pick and take on future money for Lonzo Ball and extended him instead.' Advertisement So they traded Ball for presumably less future money and no draft pick. That's the mark of a mark. As a general rule, rebuilding teams should be focused on hoarding assets. Timelines may differ, and there should be an ethical concern for competitive play and the general idea that sports are an entertainment product, but really, the whole concept revolves around the accumulation of talent. In Major League Baseball, that means acquiring minor-league prospects. In the NBA, it's draft picks. The Bulls, who are definitely rebuilding, have chosen to go about their process differently by not tanking and forgoing draft picks almost entirely in their quixotic approach to building a deep, balanced contender that is preparing to contend one day down the road. They don't acquire picks in trades, and when they trade second-rounders away, they do it for money, not more second-round picks down the road. (They moved down 10 spots in the second round this year and got cash in return.) There is a thought process to the plan, though. It's a bad one that is likely to continue being unsuccessful, but it exists. After the season, Karnišovas said the goal is to 'minimize the timeline' of that strategy by targeting 'young players with experience,' which speaks to why they acquired Giddey and Okoro. But it doesn't mean he couldn't also add draft picks. The Bulls had the leverage. ISAAC OKORO OVER THREE DEFENDERS 🤯 🤯 🤯 — ESPN (@espn) December 16, 2021 In Karnisovas' first season running the team, he showed what kind of negotiator he is when he traded two future protected picks in a midseason deal for Nikola Vučević. One of those picks turned into potential star Franz Wagner (No. 8 in 2021), and the other became the disappointing Jett Howard (No. 11 in 2023). 'Vooch' has been a nice player for the Bulls, but not one who has accomplished a lot. Advertisement Four years ago, the Bulls felt great about their new core of Vučević, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Caruso and Ball. It represented an exciting new strategy for the franchise, which hadn't had much success in free agency. But once Ball got hurt midway through his first season, the Bulls couldn't adjust, falling from first to sixth in the East. Their return to the playoffs was brief, and in the next three seasons, they had losing records and couldn't get out of the Play-In Tournament. Which brings us to where we are today, another rebuild. Four of those five players are now gone, and the only first-round pick the Bulls acquired for them was their own. They're trying to trade Vučević this summer. The Bulls nearly lucked into Cooper Flagg in the lottery, but a lost tiebreaker to Dallas kept them in the No. 12 spot. Without a superstar to save them, the Bulls can point to the Indiana Pacers as a model. 'In terms of moving forward, I think there's different structures that you can try to get to your championship,' Karnišovas said at the trade deadline. 'There's (having) two, three star players and a lot of role players or you can build a (team) of nine or 10 very good players. I think now we're leaning towards having a lot of solid good players, nine or 10, that can last through the season because there's going to be injuries. I think more and more teams are doing that.' With the era of the superteam seemingly over, the success of the Thunder and Pacers in this year's playoffs can give validation to his plan. The Thunder and Pacers were right there with the Bulls two years ago when OKC and Chicago finished with 40-42 records and Indiana was 35-47. But then last season, as the Bulls finished 39-43, Indiana traded for Pascal Siakam and improved to 47-35 while the Thunder's young players flourished and they finished first in the West at 57-25. Advertisement Last season, Indiana went on a run and finished 50-32, fourth in the East, and the Thunder won the West again, this time with a 68-14 record. The Bulls were again 39-43. The Thunder should be the paragon for any team doing a rebuild, but OKC has Sam Presti running the show, which is the difference. If Presti is the Michael Jordan of his job, Karnišovas is Denzel Valentine. (No offense to Denzel.) I'm sure the Bulls are selling the Pacers as their model to their bosses, and the Reinsdorfs will probably buy it. Here's what Eversley said about them after the draft: 'I think the thing I take away from Indiana is just their style of play. They continue to come at you over and over, and they play fast. In spite of what the score is, what quarter it is. I think that's kind of how we played a little bit this year. We've got a bunch of players who can play on both sides of the floor, and that's exactly what we want to build here in Chicago — players who are versatile, both offensively and defensively. Everybody can guard, everybody can defend, everybody run, everybody make a shot.' The Bulls' collection of talent is not only inferior to Indiana's, but to really win like the Pacers did, you also need a Tyrese Haliburton, who lifted his team by being almost unbelievably clutch in the playoffs. Do the Bulls have that guy? Not yet. Maybe it's Matas Buzelis or Coby White. But I wouldn't bet on it. So what's next? Chicago doesn't have much space to add in free agency, and it's likely to make a trade or two, though I wouldn't count on the Bulls getting much in return. Regardless, Eversley said they won't skip steps or chase short-term success in this iteration of their rebuild. They won't tank either. Maybe they'll get lucky and Essengue and Buzelis turn into stars. Maybe next year's draft lottery will go better. But my guess is they'll find themselves in the same position as a once-proud team toiling in irrelevancy. (Photo of Noa Essengue: Melanie Fidler / NBAE via Getty Images)
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chicago Bulls to trade Lonzo Ball to Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro, report says
The Chicago Bulls are trading point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard/forward Isaac Okoro, ESPN reported Saturday. It's the first trade of the summer for the Bulls, who are attempting to reshape the roster extensively ahead of a transitional season. The move comes two days before free agency is set to open Monday. Trades and signings can't become official until July 6. Advertisement The No. 5 pick in the 2020 draft, Okoro spent his first five seasons in Cleveland as part of a young core that elevated the Cavaliers to the top of the Eastern Conference this past season. He was an off-and-on starter throughout his tenure there and averaged 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 2024-25 while mainly coming off the bench. He missed 22 games in the middle of the season because of a shoulder injury. Acquiring Okoro, 24, accomplishes a main focus for the Bulls: prioritizing young players with four to five years of experience for a longer-term rebuild. But it's unclear when that approach will pay off. Straight-up player-for-player trades aren't commonplace in the NBA, yet this is the second summer in a row Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas has executed a trade for a player without gaining any draft capital. He sent Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder last year for Josh Giddey. Acquiring the 6-foot-5 Okoro doesn't address the frontcourt concerns for the Bulls, who have yet to establish a succession plan at center after drafting forwards Noa Essengue and Lachlan Olbrich this week. And Okoro is entering the second season of a three-year, $33 million contract, which means he will claim more cap space and a lengthier tenure — antithetical to the front office's stated goal of creating financial flexibility for 2026. Advertisement This trade at least will give the Bulls a different option at small forward, where Okoro can make an impact on the defensive end. And it gave the Bulls some return for Ball after re-signing him to a team-friendly two-year deal at this year's trade deadline. The trade also closes a four-year partnership between the Bulls and Ball that was mostly spent getting him back onto the court. The Bulls acquired him in August 2021 in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, and Ball initially dazzled in Chicago, slinging end-to-end passes and moving with the ball like it was attached to a string in the palm of his hand. Ball was the key that unlocked a Bulls team that briefly climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference standings in 2021-22. In his first 35 games in Chicago, he averaged 13 points, five assists and 1.8 steals and shot 42.3% from 3-point range. Advertisement But everything changed on Jan. 14, 2022, when Ball suffered what appeared to be a routine knee injury. The Bulls shut him down for a few weeks. Then a few more. Then the rest of the season. Ball underwent surgery after surgery as the Bulls medical team tried and failed to find the source of oppressive pain that made it difficult for Ball to walk up stairs or play with his daughter. In March 2023, Ball made one last risky attempt to return to the court — a cartilage transplant that included a meniscus transplant. No NBA player had returned to the league after such a procedure. The recovery would take a full year but it was the only option left, so Ball put his trust in orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Cole and took his chances. He finally returned to the court in October 2024 after spending more than 1,000 days on the sidelines. He averaged 7.6 points, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 35 games this past season, regaining his starting position despite operating under a 28-minute playing-time restriction and being barred from playing in back-to-back games. Ball's return ended prematurely in March when he was shut down because of a nagging wrist sprain he initially suffered in the first week of the season. He missed a total of 42 games because of the injury, but despite the new setback, Ball saw the season as an overwhelming success due to the viability of his knee. Advertisement 'It did better than I could ever imagine, especially this first year,' Ball said during exit interviews in April. 'That's why I'm so excited for next year, just to build upon it. … I was kind of a guinea pig. I didn't really know what to expect coming into this year, didn't know how my body would respond to games. 'But I got to a point where I was starting, which I didn't think was going to happen. I got to a point where I was playing 30 minutes multiple games in a row, which I didn't think was going to happen this year. So I went above certain goals that I set for myself, and that's very positive for me moving forward.' Perhaps the top highlight of the season for Ball occurred off the court in April: the opportunity to connect with the family of the late Alex Reinhardt, the donor of the cartilage that alleviated years of chronic pain and gave Ball a second chance at his NBA career. Ball hosted the Reinhardt family — including Alex's mother, father and siblings — for a game at the United Center against the Miami Heat. Although he already had been shut down for the season by that date, Ball was able to connect with the family and share his gratitude. Advertisement 'He changed my life,' Ball told the Reinhardts. It will take time before Ball, 27, can shake the injury concern label. In eight years in the NBA, he never has played more than 55 games in a season as he was plagued by ankle and knee injuries before the January 2022 injury. But when healthy, Ball still is considered one of the most dynamic playmakers in the league, a testament to his creativity with the ball in his hands. With Ball's departure, center Nikola Vučević is the only remaining player from the Bulls' flurry of activity in 2021 to assemble the first iteration of the team under Karnišovas. They won only one playoff game in the three years that group played together before the departures of Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine over the last year. Moving Vučević is another top priority this summer as Karnišovas and the front office attempt to overhaul the roster and prioritize young talent such as Essengue, Giddey and Matas Buzelis.
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Greenberg: Bulls have long way to go, which is why Noa Essengue is smart draft pick
CHICAGO — The Bulls won't tell you how long Billy Donovan's contract runs. And they definitely won't spell out how long the reported extensions are for the front office duo of Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley. That's just classic Jerry Reinsdorf organizational policy, and hey, you can't argue with what works. If unnecessary secrecy equated to actual playoff victories, the Bulls would be winning titles again. Advertisement Unfortunately for Reinsdorf and his son Michael, the Bulls president, the scores and standings are in the public domain. We know this is a team that can't even win half of its games. We know the Bulls are not stuck in the middle, as has been reported, but actually just below the middle. They're above the riffraff of the Eastern Conference and very far from the teams who go into the summer building for an NBA Finals run. Simply put, the Bulls are in their own world. Despite middling results, the front office has job security, and Donovan isn't going anywhere. As long as the Bulls are first in attendance, ownership doesn't care so much about being ninth in the East. So there's no hurry to get better, and there's plenty of space to reinvent the roster again. 'We've said it before, but it's worth repeating, we are in transition,' said Eversley, the GM, who took the mic after the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday. 'We took a step back this season to reposition and retool. And while we don't know exactly what next year's roster will look like, we're encouraged by the early progress and the direction that we are heading. Over the next 18 months, through the draft tonight, free agency and with financial flexibility coming in 2026, we believe we are setting ourselves up to take meaningful steps forward.' To quote the famous basketball analyst: 'Freeze it!' 'We believe we are setting ourselves up to take meaningful steps forward.' Isn't that just a perfect sentence to describe a team like the Bulls? They're preparing to succeed, but don't ask for a timeline. 'We know we have a lot of work to do,' Eversley said. 'We know it's frustrating when change doesn't happen overnight, but we've seen encouraging growth from our youth, from our young core, and we're going to keep pushing. Building something great, making it last, it takes a long time. It takes planning, patience and doing the hard work without taking shortcuts.' Advertisement Building something great? How about something decent? But let's be open-minded. I think Wednesday, they might've taken a step to set them up to take an even bigger step. I'm burying the lede. Eversley was talking because the Bulls just drafted lanky French teenager Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the draft. Noa Essengue dropped 20 points in an NBA preseason game when he was 17 🔥 — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) June 26, 2025 My question going into the NBA Draft on Wednesday night: Would the Bulls draft a European lottery ticket like Essengue, the 18-year-old big man for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany, or a safe college player? I was heavily leaning toward the former option because, well, the Bulls need to hit on a long shot. They're not a Derik Queen or a Carter Bryant or a Thomas Sorber away from being anything more than the Play-In team they already are. I have little regard for the Bulls as an organization, but I do like this pick. So, if you already didn't trust Karnišovas and Eversley, here's another reason to be nervous: I'm also an Essenguy. I've watched and read enough to know he's a project. That's fine. The Bulls are a project, too. Esesngue was the second-youngest player in the draft and has only been playing basketball since he was in middle school. He's so young that a Chicago reporter informed Essengue that he was nine years old the last time the Bulls won a playoff series. I'm guessing young Noa wasn't glued to his TV in France to watch Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and company dispose of a young Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the spring of 2015, but he did say that he loves former Bulls legend Joakim Noah, who shares a similar background. Like Yannick Noah, Essengue's father came to France from Cameroon. (According to our Sam Vecenie's draft profile, Charles Essengue owns a car wash and has never won the French Open like Joakim's pop.) Advertisement 'That's my guy!' Essengue said in a brief Zoom conversation with reporters. He revealed that he recently talked to Noah on the phone. If this Noa, who is also rangy and active, can give the Bulls what Noah did in his time here, we'll be lauding this pick for years. But what if he gives them … something different? Something more? 'I see him as a two-way player who can impact the game both offensively and defensively,' Eversley said. 'His ability to get to the free-throw line and play downhill is super intriguing to us. I think he'll be able to be a versatile wing defender. I think his game is a little bit similar to Matas (Buzelis) in that he can face up, he can post you up, you can get out on the break, his game is just very versatile.' The Chicago Bulls have selected Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Bulls will keep this pick. — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 26, 2025 The Bulls nailed their pick at No. 11 last year by taking Buzelis, who all but fell into their lap. Buzelis played his way into the rotation and became a second-team All-Rookie selection. He's already one of the few players on the roster with a puncher's chance of being on the next Bulls playoff team. Sure, the two players are similar, but a little redundancy isn't so bad when you're talking about these kinds of athletes. 'We're a team in transition,' Eversley said. 'We're all about bringing in young, dynamic, athletic players who can play the style of play that we want to play. And I think at the end of the day, if we continue to do that, we're going to build a team that's going to compete on a yearly and nightly basis.' I think it's obvious I don't have much faith in Karnišovas and Eversley — they haven't earned it since that one productive summer in 2021 — but I can't argue with the idea of gambling a little, as they did with this pick. What do they have to lose? Advertisement The lesson for teams like the Bulls — the ones stuck in basketball purgatory year after year — is that if you don't get lucky in the draft lottery, you have to make your own luck. The Bucks did that when they drafted Antetokounmpo 15th in 2013. He was far from a sure thing that season. The draft pundits liked him but thought he'd take years to develop. Instead, Giannis was an instant contributor, and it took him until his fourth season to be an MVP candidate. Of course, you can't compare every foreign player to the biggest success stories — how many guys who look like Nikola Jokić can actually play like him — but you have to hope, right? The Bulls changed their identity last season to be a run-and-gun team. They finished second in pace and sixth in points per game, as promised, but they were 20th in offensive efficiency, 20th in net rating and 28th in points allowed. Essengue should help on both sides of the ball, though Donovan will make him earn his minutes. 'I think I can do like pretty much everything, shooting, passing the ball, attacking the rim,' Essengue said. 'But I think my biggest thing right now is the open-court game.' Eversley noted the Bulls took a step back, but that's not really true. They said goodbye to vets like Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan before the season, and then traded Zach LaVine during it, but they still finished 39-43 for the second straight year and lost to the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament for the third straight one. Everyone thought the Bulls should tank, but the lottery gods wouldn't have rewarded them with much. As we saw this spring, they were only a tiebreaker away from lucking into drafting Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick. They've been lousy with luck, too. But with a host of expiring contracts on the roster, the Bulls are set up to be players in the summer of 2026 in the draft and in free agency. For a team like the Bulls, where mediocrity is a goal, not a fireable offense, a brighter tomorrow is always within sight, but just out of reach. 'I think for us, we need to remain diligent and pragmatic about how we build this,' Eversley said. 'We don't want to skip steps. I think sometimes when you do skip steps, expectations kind of build and you make mistakes. And I don't think we want to do that.'
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Draft lottery leaves Chicago Bulls at No. 12
Back in 2008, the Chicago Bulls had a slim 1.7% chance of winning the NBA Draft lottery, and lucked into picking Derrick Rose at No. 1 overall. Facing the exact same long odds this year, with the lottery once again taking place in the Bulls' backyard at McCormick Place, President of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas was hoping lightning would strike twice — with the Bulls slotted 12th in the sweepstakes for likely No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg of Duke. But lightning did not strike twice. The Bulls are staying at No. 12. The Dallas Mavericks won the draft lottery, giving them the No. 1 pick. The NBA Draft is set for Wednesday June 25.
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Artūras Karnišovas asks Chicago Bulls fans for ‘patience' after missing playoffs for 3rd straight season
Chicago Bulls fans will just have to wait. The morning after another demoralizing ending to a losing season, executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas wanted to talk about time. The Bulls aren't competitive — not in the play-in tournament, not in the Eastern Conference and certainly not in the NBA at large. They ended the season without a postseason win or an All-Star on the roster. And while the team is used to losing, this season offered few glimpses into what a successful version might look like in upcoming years. So how is Karnišovas charting a path for the Bulls to return to relevance? 'I'm asking fans for patience,' he said Thursday. 'Because we're in the first year of that transition. I thought that the way we finished the year shows some promise. 'It's hard to win games in this league, and to finish 15-5 — yeah, it's not a victory lap, but there's some positives and I think we've got to keep on building on this group.' Karnišovas repeatedly emphasized that the Bulls are following a plan to 'minimize the timeline' of a rebuild. But he shared only a few short-term goals for that project: draft a player with a lottery pick, add a piece in free agency, retain Josh Giddey with a new contract and develop young talent. Beyond that, Karnišovas refused to give any clarity about what the Bulls believe is necessary to become competitive again. His final news conference of the season — only the third time he spoke publicly — left only a handful of scattered clues about the franchise's future trajectory. Karnišovas didn't estimate a length of this new timeline for rebuilding. He wouldn't commit to whether the front office will prioritize acquiring talent through the draft — versus making trades — when utilizing future first-round picks. 'We've done trades, we've signed free agents,' Karnišovas said. 'We're going to look at everything. Everything is on a table. I'm not going to talk about speculations.' This season brought only a few marginal victories for the Bulls. They finally traded former star Zach LaVine, creating more salary flexibility by offloading his maximum contract. Rookie Matas Buzelis showed promise as a building block for the future. Coby White adapted well to a new central role. Karnišovas wanted to extrapolate those minor wins into big-picture positivity. He repeatedly pointed to the 15-5 finish to the regular season as evidence of the current roster's promise. (This ignores the reality that the Bulls beat a large handful of tanking teams while also benefiting from back-to-back scheduling for several key road upsets.) And despite a third straight season under .500, Karnišovas defended the idea that the Bulls outperformed expectations. 'You projected before the year that we were going to have 28 wins,' Karnišovas said to one reporter. 'And, you know, we had 39.' Protecting the team's first-round pick was a stated goal for Karnišovas this season — even though he wouldn't allow the team to tank. Instead of achieving that ambition through losing, the Bulls regained outright control of the pick in the LaVine trade. But refusing to play the draft lottery game heavily devalued the pick the Bulls retained. In a best-case scenario — the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat winning their play-in games Friday — the Bulls would have a 2% chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 9.4% chance of landing in the top four. If both the Mavericks and Heat lose, the Bulls' odds would be 1.2% for the No. 1 pick and 5.7% for a top-four. The likeliest outcome will be the Bulls picking at the bottom of the lottery (between No. 11 and 13) again — a prospect Karnišovas shrugged off. 'I have full confidence in our staff,' he said. 'Regardless of where we're picking, I think we can always find value. Watching what Matas has done and his progression during the year, that gives you hope.' Karnišovas also reiterated his belief in the roster's young core — specifically White and Giddey. Both guards took major steps forward on the offensive end, collaborating most prolifically after the All-Star break. But the season also revealed a variety of weaknesses in both of their games, which were most ruthlessly exposed in Wednesday's 109-90 loss to the Heat. Karnišovas said he believes the Bulls might already have two All-Star-level talents on their roster if White and Giddey develop to their full potential. 'We're always going to be looking at how to improve this roster by adding a high-caliber player,' he said. 'At the same time, I would not put any limitations on this roster or the way Coby has been playing or the way Josh has been playing. Those players have a chance of playing on a very high level. There's a lot to like about this young roster.' For the previous two seasons, the Bulls treaded water. This was the first year they took a quantifiable step backward. While they recorded the same regular-season record (39-43) as in 2023-24, they won one fewer play-in game. It's a small metric that reflects a larger truth: Even in an Eastern Conference with five teams actively tanking to protect their draft picks, the Bulls are incapable of keeping up. That's not good enough. Karnišovas said so himself. How he begins to amend those failures — and how long that process takes — will define the Bulls' next era.
