CHICAGO (670 The Score) – At long last, it sounds like Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has had enough of the middling team that he has built.
In a season-ending press conference Saturday after the Bulls were clobbered by the Heat in the play-in tournament Friday, Karnisovas vowed to enact change on a team that went 39-43 in the regular season and which missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
“It goes without saying that the conclusion of the season fell short of expectations regardless of injury status,” Karnisovas said from Bulls headquarters at the Advocate Center. “Any season where we don’t end deep into the postseason requires close examination, which has already begun. I can talk about all of our players through a positive lens, but in totality as a team, we didn’t meet expectations. We’re not here for the play-in. It’s a team game, and we have to make changes to fix things. I take full responsibility for where we are right now. I know that our fans aren’t satisfied with where we finished the season, and neither am I.
“We will look for ways to improve and we will address our shortcomings through the draft, trades and free agency. I take full responsibility, however, and recognize when changes need to be made, and I believe that time is now.”
Karnisovas’ declaration came after another season of mounting evidence that the Bulls’ core of forward DeMar DeRozan, guard Zach LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic doesn’t work well together. While those three had limited time together this past season due to a foot injury that ended LaVine’s season, the trio was outscored by 10.0 points per 100 possessions across 24 games when they shared the floor together.
“This group hasn’t worked,” Karnisovas said of the Bulls, who have had a similar roster for three straight seasons.
The question that looms as the Bulls have wanted to compete and also expressed a desire to re-sign free-agent-to-be DeRozan is this: How exactly can they meaningfully improve a veteran-laden roster that includes an albatross in LaVine’s maximum contract without taking a significant step backward?
It’s what Karnisovas and his front office will have to ponder in the next two months before the NBA Draft takes place and free agency opens.
Needless to say, it will take creativity, notably if they’re to trade LaVine, whose representation informed the organization last November that he’s ready for a change of scenery. LaVine has three years and around $138 million remaining on his deal. It’s viewed by most across the NBA as a negative-value contract, meaning the Bulls would have to attach an asset with LaVine to get off of his contract in any trade with a team that views LaVine in that light.
But like the Bulls, other teams also have issues, so perhaps there’s a match somewhere this summer.
“Analysis will start right now and go into free agency,” Karnisovas said. “I think we’re going to be pretty aggressive, the way we showed before going into the draft and free agency. We obviously can’t roll (out) the same team again and expect different results. We definitely understand that even with some of the positivity with the clutch wins and overtime wins, we’re still at 39 (wins) and at the play-in. We have to somehow generate an additional 10 wins. Even with injuries we suffered this year, we need to change things.
“I think we can be creative. We’ve been creative in the past and going into this offseason, basically everything is on the table. So we are going to look at everything – that would be my answer.”
Aware of the growing discontent among the fan base for a Bulls team mired in mediocrity, Karnisovas also took a moment in his opening statement to praise the team’s supporters. He understands the city of Chicago wants more, and he proclaimed, “I’ve got to do my job better.”
“I want to thank our fans for their tireless support and energy throughout the season,” he said. “We have the best fans in the NBA and we are truly grateful for all of you. In this business, you win or you learn, so while I can be happy with some growth and learning this year, I won’t be satisfied until we bring a championship to the city of Chicago. That’s why I was hired, that’s why I am here, and my mission remains unchanged.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund .
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