The Chicago Bulls cleaned house in their front office by firing executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley on Monday. It was a long time coming after four consecutive years of missing the playoffs and only one postseason appearance in the six years with the duo running things in Chicago.
By getting rid of Karnišovas and Eversley, the Bulls are finally signaling to their fans that they actually do care about the direction of this franchise. Team owner Michael Reinsdorf addressed the fanbase in an official statement, saying, “I hear you and understand your frustration” and “I am fully committed to getting this right.” Those words might ring hollow to Bulls fans who, for decades, have suffered through non-competitive rosters, countless failed draft prospects and an assumed comfort level with mediocrity. The Bulls were in the Play-In Tournament so often over the last few years that it had become commonplace to refer to it as the “Chicago Bulls Invitational.”
That’s not a place you want to reside in the NBA. Being stuck in the middle is the worst place to be and, by moving on from their GM and VP, the Bulls are signaling that they’re ready to fight back. They now join the Dallas Mavericks as the only other franchise with openings for their biggest front-office decision-making positions.
Bulls clean house, fire GM Marc Eversley, top executive Artūras Karnišovas after six seasons
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The Mavericks and Bulls traversed far different paths to reach the point of hanging “now hiring” signs in their office windows. In Dallas’ case, it’s not every day that a near revolt from a fanbase leads to the firing of a general manager — but they’re in the same boat regardless.
Both teams will almost certainly be considering many of the same candidates in this process. The Mavericks are shooting for the stars and have the likes of Sam Presti, Brad Stevens and R.C. Buford as dream hires, according to Marc Stein. Those high-profile names feel unrealistic, but they reflect the type of résumé the Mavericks want with this next hire. The Bulls may look at former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri, per the Chicago Sun-Times. The Bulls also plan to “engage a search firm” in looking for a replacement, according to ESPN, something they didn’t do when hiring Karnišovas and Eversley.
As the Bulls and Mavericks chart their paths forward, which situation is more attractive for prospective candidates? Let’s weigh some of the biggest pros and cons and dive in.
Bulls: Need a complete makeover, but resources are plentiful
Whoever accepts the vice president and general manager positions in Chicago will have their work cut out for them. This is a franchise that, despite the droves of fans who still show up to the games, has been irrelevant since the Derrick Rose era. The Bulls are steeped in nostalgia because they have no current success to get excited about. If Michael Jordan didn’t win six championships for this franchise, the Bulls would be in the same category as the Sacramento Kings.
Pros
- Immediate cap space: The Bulls will enter the offseason with roughly $60 million in cap space, giving whoever is in charge a practically clean slate to work with. It’s a sticky situation to be in, though, because figuring out exactly who to spend that money on could be a challenge. This isn’t a team ready to contend right now, so whoever is calling the shots needs a logical plan for how to spend this money.
- 2026 lottery pick: The Bulls would’ve been better served losing more games to increase their odds of landing a top-three pick, but a projected top 10 pick in a historically deep draft is still notable. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Bulls end up in a situation like the Mavericks last year and nab the No. 1 pick, which would be an absolute windfall for the newly installed front office. You can’t bank on lottery luck, though, so we’ll hold out excitement until after lottery night on May 10. The Bulls could also land a second first-round pick (top 14 protected) in this year’s draft if the Portland Trail Blazers make the playoffs.
- Own all future first-round picks: If it weren’t for holding onto players like DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Coby White, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso too long, the Bulls would’ve gotten more than one first-round pick combined for all those players. That’s just egregious, but Chicago fortunately does have control over all its own future first-round picks. That allows this team to build organically through the draft or use the picks to get a player they covet in a couple of years. It’s not exactly a groundbreaking collection of draft capital, but it will make dealing with the mistakes of the former regime a bit easier.
- Job security: This isn’t a franchise known for keeping short leashes on the front office. Just look at how long Karnišovas was in charge. Before that, Gar Forman and John Paxson were given nearly two decades’ worth of rope to run one of the most storied franchises into the ground. Based on history, whoever is in charge next will be granted patience. It’s going to be a long road back to contention — unless they get a stroke of luck in the lottery — but at least the Bulls aren’t still pretending that they should be contending with a half-baked roster.
Cons
- Cheap ownership: The Bulls have paid the luxury tax exactly twice in franchise history, and not since 2015. While dipping into the luxury tax won’t be an issue right off the bat for a team that is very clearly at the beginning of a rebuild, it could become an issue down the line when — ideally — the Bulls are trying to contend. If there’s a directive from ownership to stay under the luxury tax, it will create a headache for any front office executive trying to put together a winning basketball team.
- Still searching for “the guy”: This is the biggest con on the list. It’s undeniably harder to build a winning team without a franchise centerpiece already on the roster. And to get one of those, you either need lottery luck or to lose so much that you significantly increase the odds of landing a top pick. The Bulls have done neither and if they don’t jump up in the lottery this year, as deep as the draft is, they’ll be rolling the dice on whoever they pick outside of the top six or seven. The hope, though, is that whoever is installed in the front office does a far better job in the draft than the recent duds Karnišovas has under his belt like Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry and Noa Essengue.
- May not be able to pick your coach: Billy Donovan was reportedly a serious candidate to go back to the college ranks to take the North Carolina vacancy, but the Tar Heels shocked everyone and hired former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. That move signaled that perhaps Donovan is staying in Chicago and team president Michael Reinsdorf said Tuesday that “We want Billy to continue to be the coach of the Chicago Bulls.” It’s always a bit difficult for an executive to enter a situation where they can’t immediately pick their own head coach who shares the same vision. What Reinsdorf wants doesn’t mean it’s what he’ll get, and perhaps Donovan shifts to a front office position or decides he’d rather move on entirely. But assuming for the moment that he returns to the sidelines next season, it’ll be imperative for him and the new executives to be on the same page.
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Mavericks: Hardest part is done; what’s left requires finesse
Dallas undeniably has a head start over Chicago. They have their franchise player in Cooper Flagg, a guy who dropped 96 points in his last two games. What’s funny — or maybe not if you’re a Bulls fan — is the lottery luck that hit the Mavericks last year wouldn’t have happened had they lost a coin flip that broke a tie to determine lottery odds with… the Bulls. That’s one of those things that, depending on how the next few years play out, could haunt Chicago forever. The Mavericks have Flagg, but that by no means solves all of their problems. And there are certainly some roadblocks standing in their way on their path back to contention.
Pros
- Cooper Flagg: This might just be the trump card when we’re talking about which situation is better. Flagg’s a generational talent, and what he’s shown in his rookie season warrants all the hype that surrounded him when he entered the league. He’s a two-way forward who’s already excelling in creating for himself, is an efficient scorer, and while his 3-point shot is a work in progress, he’s shown signs of improvement there. Everything inherently becomes easier when you have a player of Flagg’s caliber on the roster. It’s also easier to have a vision for whoever is stepping into the general manager position when all you have to do is build around Flagg’s talents.
- 2026 lottery pick: Like the Bulls, the Mavericks will be picking somewhere in the 8-10 range (unless the basketball gods smile upon them for the second consecutive year). But let’s assume they pick eighth, which is where they’re currently slotted, and they get another talented young player to pair with Flagg. Landing a point guard to pair with Flagg would be ideal, and the hope is that the duo can be the nucleus for the Mavericks to build upon.
- Multiple trade chips: Because of the jaw-dropping decision former general manager Nico Harrison made to trade Luka Dončić, the Mavericks have a roster filled with quality role players who don’t quite fit Flagg’s timeline. Fortunately, that allows whoever is in charge next to stock up on some draft capital by trading some of them. Players like Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson and maybe even Max Christie (if the price is right) could net Dallas some quality pieces in return to shore up their war chest for the future. Or the next GM could fast-track this rebuild and stick with mostly the same roster and try to contend for the playoffs with a healthy Kyrie Irving back next season. You would do the latter so that all the outgoing draft capital the Mavericks owe other teams isn’t as lucrative, and you’d do the former if you want to recoup that draft capital for the next few years.
Cons
- Don’t control first-round picks until 2031: This is where things get grim. The Mavericks jettisoned their draft capital because they thought they’d be championship contenders right now with Dončić. Harrison shattered that reality after one coffee date with Rob Pelinka. They got lucky with Flagg, but building around him becomes far more difficult without control over their own picks for the next four years. That puts whoever takes this job in a tough spot and will require some creativity to build around Flagg for the next few years. Dallas could easily just keep this roster intact and hope Flagg quickly progresses into the star player we all assume he’s going to become. But if this is a long rebuild, it will be difficult to build anything without control of those draft picks.
- No immediate cap space: Because the Mavericks built a roster intended to maximize Dončić’s talents, they won’t be entering this summer with any real cap space. They’ll have a $20.8 million trade exception created when they dealt Anthony Davis in February, but beyond that, unless some other trades materialize this offseason, there’s not a ton of flexibility with the roster for the new general manager. However, while there’s not a ton of money to play with right now, the Mavericks could have max cap space in 2028, which happens to line up with when Dončić could become a free agent next if he exercises his player option with the Lakers.
- Can’t pick a coach: Similar to the Bulls, the Mavericks reportedly want to keep Jason Kidd as coach despite a regime change in the front office. Again, it would probably make more sense to give the front office control over choosing a coach — especially when this particular coach once tried and failed at a power play for control over basketball operations.
- Lingering drama from Dončić trade: It’s been more than a year since the Dončić deal, but the fallout is still very much present within the organization, no matter how much Kidd wants everyone to move on. The fans are still wounded from it, and it doesn’t get easier every time Dončić has a 40-point game with the Lakers. You even have Mark Cuban, now a minority owner of the team, talking publicly about how he regrets selling the team to the Adelsons in 2023. It’s the type of cloud that might not be appealing to an incoming general manager. It also puts pressure on the next person to win over some of the fans who remain angry for what Harrison did.
Verdict: A clean slate in Chicago or running the Flagg show?
These are two very different situations. The Bulls are practically an empty slate. That could excite some executives, but also provide a major challenge if they don’t nail their draft selections over the next couple of years. There’s a lot of flexibility, especially with an ownership group that — while it presents some major issues — isn’t quick to pull the trigger on replacing their front office. That allows whoever is installed time to execute a vision that gets this team back on the path of contention.
The Mavericks accomplished the hard part when they landed Flagg in the draft. Just imagine what shape this team would be in had they not gotten that lucky. But with an expensive roster and little controllable draft capital over the next four years, building around Flagg is a legitimate challenge. There are avenues to alleviate that challenge (like trading role players), but there’s also some baggage that comes with running this team on the heels of the Dončić situation. Will Cuban try to get involved in front office matters? What about Kidd? Will Patrick Dumont course correct and be too hands-on after the Harrison debacle? Having Flagg certainly masks a lot of the cons with Dallas, but it’s certainly not without its thorns.
Both situations are attractive ones. But I’d have to think that the one in Chicago, where you can essentially build your own vision from the ground up with more assets at your disposal, may be slightly more enticing. Whoever takes that job could be seen as the savior of Bulls basketball. It also helps that the Bulls are in the Eastern Conference, so a path back to contending seems less daunting.
This is probably worth revisiting after lottery night, because if the Mavericks get lucky again, then the person in charge over there will be in one of the most enviable positions in the league.
