Officially, Arturas Karnisovas has yet to be announced and introduced as the new head of basketball operations in Chicago.
Behind the scenes, he is busy putting together what looks to be an impressive staff.
Karnisovas has brought JJ Polk from the Pelicans, a well-respected cap guy, to be an assistant general manager, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Another possible assistant GM — a player/personnel specialist — looks like he could jump from Phoenix to Chicago in the form of Pat Connelly.
ESPN Sources: Another candidate in serious talks to join Arturas Karnisovas' front office with the Chicago Bulls: Denver scout Pat Connelly, who was previously an assistant GM with Suns.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 10, 2020
Those are the assistants, now Karnisovas has turned his attention to finding his general manager, and he has a list of names according to Wojnarowski, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, and Joe Crowly of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Sources: Arturas Karnisovas is planning to start discussing Chicago’s GM job with candidates soon, a pool that’s expected to include several assistant GM’s: Calvin Booth (Denver), Marc Eversley (Sixers), Mark Hughes (Clippers) and Matt Lloyd (Magic) — among others.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 10, 2020
Lloyd and Booth are only names that have been reported as possibilities here. https://t.co/7qG6csJBVD
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 10, 2020
OKC's Troy Weaver, Dallas' Michael Finley, Denver's Calvin Booth, OKC's Nazi Mohammed, and Orlando's Matt Lloyd are all in play for Bulls GM job, said a source. Booth might be the most ready – but hardest to get, while the source said Mohammed may end up being a gem.
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) April 10, 2020
Nazi Mohammed played for the Bulls, while Matt Lloyd worked in the Chicago front office in the past, giving both ties to the organization.
The main takeaway for Bulls fans?
This isn’t a tweak, this is a complete and radical overhaul of the front office and organization, which is exactly what Chicago needs. Gar Forman might want to polish his resume, and whatever role John Paxson ends up with apparently will have much less influence than before. Again, all good things. The Reinsdorfs are loyal to their people, a noble quality but if not carefully managed can lead to things getting stale. That is what happened in Chicago. Karnisovas has come in and — before even formally being announced in the job — has shaken things up.
What does all this mean for coach Jim Boylen? No decision has been made, nor should it have been. The front office should be assembled before picking a coach who can execute the new vision, whether that ends up being Boylen or someone else. He wants the chance to make his case, and that would only be fair. But there is a lot of buzz around the league about who is going to get that job next.
Obviously nothing is decided on the coaching front and Jim Boylen's future yet, but there's been a lot of smoke around Adrian Griffin and the Bulls today. One exec told me Griff is so ready that he's "over-qualified" for most coaching jobs.
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) April 10, 2020
