The waiting game continues for the Bulls.
Waiting to see if their season is finally over.
Waiting to see if they can actually get into the business of basketball on the coaching and player personnel side.
Waiting to continue the organizational purge that’s been on display since executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas was given the keys to the rebuild house.
While NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been meeting with general managers and owners from all 30 teams throughout the week, as of Friday the Association was still trying to hammer out the details of what the rest of this season will look like.
The Associated Press reported that the Board of Governors could not reach a consensus on Friday and Silver is still collecting information on multiple options ranging from 16 to 30 teams returning to action.
While an exact format could be finalized by Sunday, multiple reports have indicated that momentum is leaning towards ending the regular season as is and going right into a playoff format.
The Bulls were preparing for either scenario Friday afternoon, with a team spokeswoman releasing a statement to the Sun-Times, saying, “In compliance with NBA guidelines, the Bulls continue to work closely with state and local governments, as well as Rush Hospital’s Infectious Disease Specialist, in an effort to start a phased reopening of the Advocate Center beginning Wednesday, June 3. The team is supportive of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision and are aligning their plans with the directive of her office.
“All players and essential staff will adhere to the NBA’s policies to protect the spread of the coronavirus. The Advocate Center will stay closed to all non-essential staff and media until further notice.’’
The great unknown in all of this? Will the Bulls play another game that matters in the 2019-20 season?
If the straight-to-postseason route is the one that’s taken, the belief is there could be a play-in tournament. The problem is it may only go 20 teams deep.
That scenario would give the league a boost of excitement for a first-round that has grown increasingly stale over the years, and also limit the number of moving parts that would have to be locked down in the Disney Complex “bubble’’ in Orlando.
Dealing with essential personnel from 20 teams is less taxing than 30 teams.
Unfortunately for the Bulls, they wouldn’t have to worry about that. At 22-43 (.338) when the coronavirus shut the league down, the Bulls would be one of the 10 teams left on the outside and looking in. They would be joined by Golden State (15-50), Cleveland (19-46), Minnesota (19-45), Atlanta (20-47), Detroit (20-46), New York (21-45), Charlotte (23-42), Washington (24-40) and Phoenix (26-39).
The good news for the Bulls in this scenario?
They could officially make a decision on head coach Jim Boylen and the rest of the staff, knowing there would be no more games to coach.
It’s that piece of the puzzle that the Bulls fan base has been waiting for, ever since Karnisovas took control of the basketball side of things.
The Sun-Times has reported that Boylen’s fate is all but sealed, with Karnisovas and new general manager Marc Eversley hearing enough mixed results from key players to make the case that they want their own guy in that coaching seat.
Sources reiterated to the Sun-Times over the last week that while ownership and adviser John Paxson have expressed their appreciation for Boylen to Karnisovas and Eversley, they will remain completely hands-off in the final decision the two men make and fully support it.
