Bulls Rumors: Chicago Eyeing Thunder's Sam Presti, Ready to 'Pay What It Takes'

The Chicago Bulls are reportedly set to target Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti to replace GM Gar Forman following the 2019-20 season.

"That's the guy they want. They are prepared to pay him what it takes," David Kaplan of ESPN 1000 in Chicago reported Tuesday (via David Greenberg).

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported in February the Bulls were looking for a general manager with a "louder voice." Forman, who has been GM since 2009, wouldn't be fired but rather reassigned to the scouting department, where he first began with the franchise in 1998.

Chicago is on pace to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five seasons. It owns a 21-40 record that leaves the team six games and three places behind the Orlando Magic for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Otto Porter Jr. has a player option that could allow him to become an unrestricted free agent at season's end. All of the other Bulls are either under contract for the 2020-21 campaign or will be restricted free agents, giving the front office the right of final refusal should they receive offers from other clubs.

The team actually features a solid group of depth with seven players averaging double figures in points. What the roster lacks, however, is high-end players outside of Zach LaVine in order to seriously compete in the star-driven NBA.

So the task for Presti, if Chicago is able to lure him away from OKC, will be trying to parlay the Bulls' depth and its likely top-10 draft pick this year into at least one elite player.

Presti has been with the Thunder organization since 2007, when he became GM of the Seattle SuperSonics. He presided over the arrivals of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, but the team couldn't keep the superstar trio together long enough to chase down a championship. The closest it won was reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 before losing to the Miami Heat.

The Massachusetts native has also paved the way for Oklahoma City, which has missed the playoffs only once in the last 10 years, to acquire Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari in recent years.

He discussed the trades of George and Westbrook as well as Durant's departure in free agency on the Woj Pod with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski in December:

Although the Thunder haven't won an NBA championship under Presti's guidance, he's shown the mettle and creativity necessary to acquire big-time talents consistently. That's exactly what the Bulls are looking for as they attempt to get over the final hump in their rebuilding process.