Bulls Not Considering 'Blowup' or 'Rebuild' After Play-In Loss to Heat, GM Says
Chicago Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas told reporters that his team isn't considering a rebuild despite a disappointing 40-42 season that ended with a 102-91 play-in tournament loss to the Miami Heat on Friday.
"That's been thrown around all this season," Karnisovas said, per ESPN's Jamal Collier. "Blow up, rebuild. It's not on our minds.
"We changed our minds in the 2021 season to focus on winning, and try to build a sustainable program here—I think that's where we're focused right now. How we can help this group and how we can improve from this year."
The Bulls entered the 2021-22 season with a core four of DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević, Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball. They were the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference after 36 games with a 26-10 record.
However, Ball missed the second half of last year and all of this year with a left knee injury that has led to a cartilage transplant. He may miss most of 2023-24 as well.
The Bulls faltered in the second half of the 2021-22 season and bowed out of the playoffs early to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. They were in serious danger of missing the postseason this year after a 26-33 start but finished 14-9 down the stretch to make the play-in tournament.
If that stretch is symbolic of how the Bulls can play, then it's easy to see why Karnisovas would sign up for that. At the same time, he may not get that chance with Vučević an unrestricted free agent and Coby White a restricted free agent. Vučević did say the Bulls have priority but that there are multiple factors to consider for his next NBA home.
Karnisovas ultimately noted that the results are "not good enough" despite his desire to keep the core intact. We'll see how the offseason goes soon enough, but the Bulls unfortunately do not have a first-round pick this year by virtue of the Vučević trade with the Orlando Magic in 2021.
