Arturas Karnisovas’ timeline remains very much his own.
It speeds up when the Bulls’ new executive vice president of basketball operations wants it quickened, and it slows down to a methodical pace when Karnisovas feels it’s “deliberate’’ time.
The firing of former head coach Jim Boylen last week hasn’t swayed that, and now landing the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming October NBA Draft hasn’t changed it.
Karnisovas reiterated that on Thursday.
“Timeline, I said we’re not going to have a timeline,’’ Karnisovas said, when asked about the early stages of the coaching search. “We started already the search but we haven’t interviewed anybody. So that’s where we’re at.’’
Expect that to start changing, however.
With Philadelphia on the brink of elimination from the Orlando bubble after going down 3-0 in the playoff series against Boston, 76ers assistant coach Ime Udoka – an early leader in the Bulls coaching clubhouse – will be freed up to formally talk about the position.
Not that Udoka will be walking in blind to the situation, with the Sun-Times reporting back in early June that the Bulls were using back channels to make sure Udoka knew there was interest in him.
And while Udoka will headline that coaching search list, expect it to be a long one. The new regime has been very diligent in decontaminating a Bulls organization that was filled with hazardous waste, starting with the immediate firing of long-time general manager Gar Forman.
The last thing Karnisovas & Co. want now is to bring in the wrong coach as their first hire in that position.
The Bulls are entering a crossroads of this current rebuild. That means making personnel decisions on Zach LaVine long-term, as well as finding out exactly what they have in the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.
A coach that understands the strengths of those players, as well as one that excels in player development is paramount.
Then factor in a new piece of the puzzle being added in October, with the Bulls hitting No. 4 in the draft lottery, and there’s a reason Karnisovas will take a long, detailed approach to his next move.
He was even asked if the NBA now looking to open the doors for the eight teams left out of the bubble to get some practice time would sway his timeline, and again stuck to his philosophy.
“I mean, first of all we’re excited to get those [group] activities,’’ Karnisovas said. “Players that I talk to, they miss group workouts, which that’s going to be presented. But we’re not going to put pressure on ourselves to hire a coach by then. If that happens, it happens. But we’re not going to insist on that.’’
As far as the rest of the coaching staff, Karnisovas has been very vague on the futures of Dean Cooper, Chris Fleming, Roy Rogers and Karen Stack Umlauf.
Assistant Nate Loenser had his contract picked up, but Cooper was a Boylen guy and could be headed out the door. A new coach is usually allowed at least one new hire, so expect Stack Umlauf to be demoted back to her former position with the organization, while Fleming and Rogers could be retained as long as the new hire sees a workable relationship.
When that new hire will actually be in the building to help make those decisions?
Only Karnisovas knows, and he’s in no hurry.
