The Bulls Have Finally Collapsed Under Arturas Karnisovas

This year marks another unsuccessful run for the franchise under Artūras Karnišovas. In his time as the Bulls’ Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Chicago has never won more than 46 games and reached the playoffs just once in his six years there. 

Karnisovas-Era Bulls

It only takes one word to describe the Bulls since Arturas Karnisovas was hired: mediocre.

Karnisovas has only picked inside the top-10 once, and it was in his first draft, when he inherited a pick and chose Patrick Williams fourth overall. The Bulls would’ve selected in the top 10 in 2021 if they hadn’t traded their pick to the Magic. Then it was a series of first-round playoff exits and play-in tournament appearances.

Another word to describe Karnisovas’ Bulls career is late. Chicago will have a break from the play-in this year. The Bulls currently have a top-10 pick, the first one Karnisovas has “earned,” and kept. The problem is that they decided to tank too late. The best odds they could hope for are probably the seventh-best odds.

Karnisovas has also been slow to move on from players. The Magic reportedly offered the Bulls two first-round picks in last year’s trade deadline— they got zero for White this year.

A team offered a first for Lonzo Ball last year— the Bulls traded him in the offseason for Isaac Okoro. Karnisovas could not cut his losses after the Ball injury and kept trying to compete with a mediocre team for three straight seasons.

Tanking was the right move. Trading White and Ball was the right move. Moving on from a failed team was the right move. The problem was that it was all too late.

Should Karnisovas Make the Pick?

As mentioned before, Karnisovas has only one selection in the top 1o in his Bulls tenure. It so happened to be the biggest bust in Bulls history, then he gave Williams a $90 million contract. Karnisovas’ other first-round picks have been Dalen Terry, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue. It is too early to tell with Essengue, but Terry was not a good pick. His only good first-round pick has been Buzelis, who was projected top five and fell to Chicago at No. 11.

The argument for keeping Karnisovas is that he put together a team that was the No. 1 seed in the East before Ball got hurt. He also had a great trade deadline, with the Bulls being the most active team. He traded away players who had no future in Chicago for potential production and a multitude of second-round draft picks. Karnisovas has fully bought into the idea of tanking and a multi-year rebuild.

Karnisovas deserves to make this selection. The Bulls are only in this position because he finally stepped in and made changes for the future. If he misses on another first-round pick, this time in the top-10, potentially top-four, it should be the last straw. The point of tanking is to get high draft picks. If Chicago has a person in charge who can’t draft, what does losing 50+ games a season even do?

The other question is, how long will this rebuild take? Adam Silver is looking into implementing anti-tanking rules this offseason. Buzelis, who is now the face of the franchise, has been outspoken about his frustration with losing.

This year is Karnisovas’s only chance at redemption. He had a great trade deadline to set up the draft, but if he wiffs on another first-round pick, it is impossible to trust him to lead a rebuild.