Arturas Karnisovas and the rest of his front office have refused the idea of tanking to improve this Bulls roster. It’s time for that mindset to change going into the summer.
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Arturas Karnisovas has forgotten more about basketball and the inner workings of an NBA organization than any fan or any member of the media knows.
The moment that is not believed is the moment you are fooling yourself.
The Bulls executive vice president of basketball has the pulse of player development, scouting, analytics, cap issues, while also understanding the politics of ownership and what the underlying agenda of those bosses may or may not be.
The media is not privy to a lot of that information.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t blind spots, however.
And as much as Karnisovas has over the masses when it comes to the knowledge of his organization, what media members that understand the game do have a grasp of is what a title contender should look like.
It ain’t this.
Tuesday’s loss to the Knicks was just the latest reminder of how far Karnisovas and the Bulls are from being relevant in the Eastern Conference, let alone a serious contender.
Whether it was the embarrassingly comical alley-oop attempt by Torrey Craig that was blown up by his own teammate in Andre Drummond or some of the offensive shot selections, the 2023-24 Bulls have reached the part of the NBA season where they are better off to be put down.
Let’s just get to the exit interviews where Karnisovas will use the messaging of “$70 million not playing” referring to injuries to Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams, while he also then tries to highlight the “competitiveness” of going 26-16 in clutch games.
And not to steal the mic from him and “8-Mile” his expected rap, but it’s obvious how this will go.
There will be the spirit of coming back from a 5-14 start, the pat on the back of player development for Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu emerging, and the stellar job coach Billy Donovan did in keeping this group on the same page despite all the adversity.
What there won’t be? The reality of how Karnisovas needs to get out of this mess.
That’s because it’s not clean. It would be dirty and rely on losing, possibly for years, but it would start with the idea of tanking. An idea that Karnisovas and his front office are vehemently opposed to.
They would rather keep taking on water but making sure the “Good Ship Lollipop” is still afloat than a good old fashioned Titanic sinking.
That’s been made clear for three seasons now. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a last plea made. One more attempt to call the governor’s office and beg for clemency.
Trade it all.
Let DeMar DeRozan finish his Hall of Fame career elsewhere, try and move Nikola Vucevic, give LaVine away for bad contracts, heck, kick the tires on what White and Dosunmu would get on the market.
This is not about the 2024 draft, which is a class that barely moves the needle. No, this is about making sure to keep the 2025 top 10 protected pick out of San Antonio’s hands and Karnisovas giving himself the best odds on landing Duke-bound Cooper Flagg.
It’s not the tough sell that Karnisovas thinks it would be with this fan base. Chicago fans are well-versed by now on the rebuild.
Whether it’s some tired-out popcorn spills by Benny the Bull, the popular “Dunkin Races,” and even handing out small shovels that read “Pooper Scooper for Cooper,” the United Center is its own being, usually very full and energized on most nights no matter how bad the product.
Even if the Bulls miss on Flagg in ’25, there’s Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe … the class appears to be loaded.
Karnisovas needs to get a toe in those waters.
In all likelihood he won’t. It will be more spin doctoring and messaging when this season does come to an end.
After all, Karnisovas knows more than all of us. Just ask him.