Arturas Karnisovas wasted almost no time in making sure to add JJ Polk and Pat Connelly to the front office restructure almost three weeks ago.
The Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations explained why on Wednesday, with the team making the two hires official.
“Pat and JJ both bring valuable experience that will enhance our basketball operations department,’’ Karnisovas said in a statement. “I know that the skills these two possess will be an asset in building out our program. JJ’s expertise with cap management and negotiations will help us be creative in our deals and contracts, while Pat’s great eye for talent, global contacts and networking capabilities will organize our scouting department in a productive way.
“Combined, these two basketball minds will help increase functionality and implement our vision of moving this program forward.’’
As described last week by Karnisovas, Connelly has the title of vice president of player personnel, which includes the duties of the structure and process of the scouting department. He’s already been meeting with current Bulls personnel, making decisions on who will stay and who goes.
Karnisovas was very familiar with Connelly, having worked with him in Denver, where Connelly was the director of pro personnel.
As for Polk, he will be responsible for planning and salary cap management, as well as player personnel matters.
He was a huge get for Karnisovas, after Polk spent the last 10 seasons with New Orleans. The Pelicans originally hired Polk as the director of player contracts and basketball administration back in 2010, after he practiced law at Bryan Cave LLP for six years as an associate in the Real Estate and Banking Practice Group.
Polk did his undergrad at Rice, but received his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law. He played professional basketball in Sweden, Latvia and China from 1997-2000.
The Bulls announced last week that Marc Eversley was named general manager, bringing the number of front office hires to three for Karnisovas.
Expect that number to grow, as the plan all along has been to build out each department in the front office, as well as adding depth to each one.
