The Arturas Karnisovas train hasn’t lost any steam in the journey forward. Call it just slowing down a bit to get a good feel of the landscape.
The newly-hired Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations has not only been busy talking to as many of the players currently on the roster as possible, but also has had numerous meetings with what’s left of the scouting departments.
A source said that Karnisovas was still drawing opinions on who stays and who goes, as well as collecting information on what he has to work with from a personnel standpoint.
All the while, he is still going through the interview process to find a general manager, a process that could carry through at least next week.
There was an erroneous report published on Thursday that Karnisovas had settled on CAA agent Austin Brown to fill that GM spot, but that report was taken down by the late afternoon. Yes, Brown’s name was in the mix and would follow the history of the Reinsdorfs approving outside-the-box hires, but a source said on Friday that there was no front-runner.
Does Karnisovas privately see a front-runner?
Only Karnisovas knows that for sure, as the former Denver GM has reportedly spoken to Marc Eversley (Philadelphia 76ers), Mark Hughes (Los Angeles Clippers), Matt Lloyd (Orlando Magic) and Michael Finley (Dallas Mavericks).
The source did say Finley made a great impression on Karnisovas, but there was no indication of a leader for that job heading into the weekend.
However, if a GM is named by next week, that will give Karnisovas his GM, his cap specialist in J.J. Polk — whom he hired from New Orleans — and his player personnel guru in Pat Connelly.
That would be three key hires in less than a few weeks officially on the job, but only the start of a complete overhaul and widening of the Bulls front office.
What many Bulls fans want to see addressed is the fate of current head coach Jim Boylen, but as the Sun-Times and multiple news outlets have already reported, that decision is further down the priority list, especially with the remainder of the NBA season still up in the air because of the coronavirus shutdown.
Until Karnisovas knows if the Bulls will have to play their final 17 regular-season games, he’s not going to move on Boylen and the rest of the coaching staff.
Even if the regular season is suspended, the idea that Boylen being replaced is a sure thing is just not accurate.
Not only has the Sun-Times reported through sources that Boylen feels like he will be back next season, but the coach has continued going through the business of coaching in these unprecedented times by reaching out to his players for updates and film clips for them to study, as well as sending them old Bulls videos to watch.
Boylen has met with Karnisovas regularly to discuss the roster, and has remained in contact with his staff, giving them projects and assignment to work on.
What about the idea of simply whacking Boylen and making one of the assistant coaches an interim head coach?
According to a source, it’s not a staff where a glaring interim head coach can be had because they are all viewed to have equal experience.
Finally, the GM will likely want to assess Boylen and the staff, so Karnisovas needs to get that office chair filled first, before turning his full attention to the head coach’s office.
