With the NBA Draft now in the rearview mirror after the conclusion of Round 2 on Thursday, it’s brass-tacks time for Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations.
No more excuses. No more benefit of the doubt. It’s time for Karnisovas and the front office to pick a clear and distinct direction — and they can start at 5 p.m. Sunday, when free agency opens.
But don’t expect them to jump right in.
As the Sun-Times reported earlier this week, several executives around the league believe Karnisovas is open to trades, with most of the Bulls’ roster on the table. Guard Zach LaVine is the obvious candidate and has been for more than a year, but there’s a sense that center Nikola Vucevic and free-agent forward DeMar DeRozan also could be acquired — via a sign-and-trade in DeRozan’s case.
Karnisovas said little Wednesday to dispel the possibility of trades.
“Everything is on the table,” he said hours after the Bulls, who had no picks in the second round, drafted forward Matas Buzelis 11th overall. “I want fans to know we are committed to the process of building a team for long-term success. We’ve made some initial changes this offseason, and now our focus shifts on Friday to free agency. We can’t predict exactly what’s going to happen, but we’re determined to strengthen our roster.”
The Bulls’ ability to continue their new youth movement likely will be determined one way or another by the frenzy of free agency, with dominos falling after players such as the Clippers’ Paul George and the Warriors’ Klay Thompson make their decisions. Several teams with salary-cap room and/or a desire to add a big-time scorer already know via back channels if they’re truly in the running for top free agents. Karnisovas can appeal to some of these teams by dangling a DeRozan sign-and-trade or seeing if they’re willing to take a leap for LaVine, a two-time All-Star with a big contract and a long history of injuries.
“I think the directional stuff we’re going to be able to establish in a week or two,” Karnisovas said. “I’m going to wait. I’m going to let the free-agency process work out, and we’re going to have
more information. I can comment on that later.”
As for strengthening the roster, the only way the Bulls can do that while going young is by also taking a step back next season to assure they keep their top-10 protected pick from the Spurs. Unlike the ’24 draft class, ’25 is top-heavy and deep.
Is holding back the plan?
“I don’t think our plans for next year are going to be impacted by our pick,” Karnisovas said. “[With] what’s going to be available in free agency, which we still don’t know . . . we’ll have more information, and we’ll be able to see what we look like as a team.”
NOTE: The Bulls signed former Illinois swingman Markus Domask to a training-camp contract.