Bulls fire Karnisovas and Eversley after 6 losing seasons
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- Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley were dismissed Monday after going 224-254 across six seasons, with Chicago posting only one winning season (2021-22) and one playoff trip — a five-game, first-round exit to the Milwaukee Bucks.
- Michael Reinsdorf acknowledged fan frustration in a statement, saying the franchise has 'not had the success our fans deserve' and that ownership is going 'in a new direction' toward 'sustained success.'
- Coach Billy Donovan will meet with the team after the season to discuss retention, with the Bulls signaling they want to keep him despite the front-office purge.
- Karnisovas' signature 2021 summer — adding Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan to a core built around a deadline trade for Nikola Vucevic — collapsed after Ball's injuries, and the subsequent teardown including Zach LaVine and fan favorites Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu at this year's deadline failed to land long-term pieces or improve lottery odds, per sources.
- Jaden Ivey, one of the seven players acquired at the trade deadline, was dismissed by the team last week after social media posts involving religion, anti-gay sentiments and depression.
- The Bulls will use a search firm to find replacements, with sources telling ESPN ownership's decision to pivot came too slowly after three straight play-in losses.
- Chicago enters the offseason with nearly $60 million in cap space, its own lottery pick, and a young core of Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones and Noa Essengue — the latter limited to two games before season-ending surgery.
Why it matters: The Bulls are resetting their front office with rare frequency — John Paxson ran basketball operations from 2009 to 2020 — but the reset is happening with roughly $60 million in cap space and a young core already in place, giving the next GM unusual flexibility to reshape the roster rather than rebuild from scratch.
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