The Chicago Bulls are leaving no stone unturned in finding the perfect person to lead them to a new frontier.
While some teams in the Eastern Conference are busy battling it out in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls are focusing on finding a new direction in the front office as the franchise looks to reclaim its long-lost glory.
The Bulls have been mired in mediocrity over the past few seasons. Following the recent firing of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley as executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager, respectively, the team is now eager to have a restart.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, three candidates are in the running to replace Karnisovas: Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Atlanta Hawks senior vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham, and Detroit Pistons senior vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey.
“The early word is that discussions with the various candidates have indeed taken on a ‘rebuild’ tone. Sources say that the process will advance to the in-person interview stage next week before the league descends en masse to Chicago for the annual NBA Draft Combine,” wrote Stein on Substack.
Lloyd may have an inside track because, as Stein noted, he has already worked with Bulls ownership advisor John Paxson.
Chicago has also interviewed Cleveland Cavaliers manager Mike Gansey and San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Dave Telep.
Aside from the vacancies in the front office, Chicago is also looking for a successor to Billy Donovan, who resigned as coach last week.
Stein pointed out that the Bulls will attract a lot of “external interest.”
“Big-market Chicago is projected to have $65 million in salary cap space this summer as well as two picks in the top 15 of the June draft,” added Stein.
The Bulls missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season after a 31-51 record, their worst finish since the 2019-2020 campaign.
The team let go of Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline, signaling their rebuild. They also had to deal with the issue regarding Jaden Ivey, whom the Bulls waived in March due to his erratic behavior.