Bulls Fire VP Karnisovas and GM Eversley, What Does It Mean for Billy Donovan After UNC Rumors?

The Chicago Bulls announced Monday that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have been fired.

The news doesn't come as a major surprise after reports emerged that team governor Jerry Reinsdorf and president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf were weighing the futures of Karnisovas and Eversley amidst the team's disappointing 29-49 record, which long ago eliminated them from Play-In Tournament contention.

It surely didn't help that head coach Billy Donovan seemed to be flirting with the notion of taking the North Carolina vacancy before Michael Malone was tabbed to be the next UNC head coach. Losing Donovan would not necessarily reflect well on the current state of the franchise.

"My understanding is the Bulls want to keep [Donovan] as long as he wants to be there in Chicago," ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Monday's NBA Today. "Their No. 1 priority after the season ends. The Reinsdorfs will meet with Donovan, discuss the future, and try to keep Donovan in Chicago."

Granted, bringing aboard new leadership in the front office while keeping the head coach in place risks causing friction if those parties don't philosophically align.

But whether Donovan stays or goes, changes were needed in the front office.

Karnisovas and Eversley have been paired since 2020 and the Bulls have gone just 224-254 in that time. Chicago was trapped in the NBA purgatory of being just good enough to stay out of contention for top lottery picks, but nowhere near good enough to compete for titles. This season, at least, they finally veered closer to bottoming out.

Their front-office openings are fairly appealing ones, however, given their draft capital, cap space and players like Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis to build around. One name worth monitoring in that regard is Minnesota Timberwolves' general manager Matt Lloyd.

The Bulls face a very important offseason. Landing the right person to lead the front office is the most vital step.