Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf wasn’t working with the widest of nets the last time he was looking for someone to run the front office in March 2020.
There was a global pandemic to deal with, he didn’t have the longest list of names in his contacts and the interview process was conducted on the phone and on Zoom calls because of what was going on in the world.
Those were the circumstances under which former executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas was hired.
‘‘Weird’’ was how Reinsdorf described it this month.
But things have changed.
The Sun-Times confirmed a report Monday the Bulls and the hiring firm they are working with have started to get permission to begin interviewing candidates to replace the recently fired Karnisovas, with a list that includes Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Pistons senior vice president Dennis Lindsey, Hawks senior vice president Bryson Graham, Cavaliers GM Mike Gansey, Spurs assistant GM Dave Telep and agent Austin Brown.
A source also indicated there were at least three other mystery candidates involved in the process.
‘‘We’ll talk to more people and get a better understanding of what some other organizations do,’’ Reinsdorf said when he met with the media a couple of weeks ago. ‘‘What things do they do right? What things do they do wrong? How can we get better?’’
He also made it clear that the time was right for a change and that the Bulls were sitting in a positive direction heading into this offseason.
‘‘We have all our draft picks going forward,’’ Reinsdorf said. ‘‘We have [injured rookie [Noa Essengue] coming back, which is basically having a second top-10 pick, and then we have $65 million in cap space. I just feel like now is the time. We’re in position to get this right. Clean slate.’’
He wasn’t exaggerating, either. Besides having the Trail Blazers’ first-round pick (likely No. 15) in a loaded draft class, the Bulls also have their own, which is No. 9 going into the draft lottery. That means they have a 4.5% of landing the No. 1 pick and a 20.3% chance to get one in the top four. They also have a 50.8% chance of staying put and a 25.9% chance of falling back to No. 10.
As it stands now, the Bulls’ roster features only eight players with guaranteed contracts next season, with Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis the main foundation pieces. So it’s a clean slate, indeed.
The Bulls also might have to launch a search for a coach. They still are waiting to hear from Billy Donovan about his intentions to continue coaching the team.
Donovan met with ownership — Michael and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf — last Tuesday before heading back to his home in Florida. He wasn’t expected to drag the process out very long and made that clear in his final interviews with the media.
‘‘I feel like I need to [make a quick decision] moving forward and certainly listen to what [ownership] has to say,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘It wouldn’t be a situation where I’m feeling a certain family pressure. . . . They’ve never put me in that situation. I’m grateful for that. So if it would have anything to do with the family, it would totally be on me.
‘‘I love being in Chicago and I love the organization, everything about it. But we’re in this pivot point right now where everything has changed.’’