Bulls CEO Michael Reinsdorf commits to change in 4th-ever search for a new top executive
· Yahoo Sports
WASHINGTON — The Chicago Bulls need to enter an era of hands-on ownership.
President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf voiced that belief Tuesday while addressing the media in a video conference following the firing of executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley. The news conference marked Reinsdorf’s first public comments to the media about the Bulls in more than five years.
Visit tr-sport.click for more information.
The Reinsdorfs are known for their tendency to provide autonomy to the people they hire. But as the Bulls prepare for their fourth-ever hiring search to replace their top two executives, Reinsdorf wants to shift his approach.
“I have to hold myself accountable, too,” Reinsdorf said. “We do give a lot of autonomy to our people, but that doesn’t mean they can just make any decision they want. It’s our job to ask the right questions and to push back when needed. … We’ve got to really ask the right questions, challenge, talk about experiences, look at other situations and ask a lot of questions. I think I need to do a much better job of that.”
The upcoming weeks are critical for the Bulls. Reinsdorf joked that on Monday alone, he received at least 60 texts from people “saying they wanted the job.” He will collaborate with former general manager John Paxson — a longtime adviser to the club — and assistant general managers Pat Connelly and JJ Polk. The Bulls will also hire a search firm and consult with coach Billy Donovan on the process.
Reinsdorf said he is not committed to a set structure for the front office. The Bulls might stick with the previous hierarchy of an executive vice president and a general manager or shift to just a general manager with many assistants.
This is a different tactic for the Bulls. Reinsdorf noted the peculiarities of the prior hiring process, which took place in March 2020 in the early throes of the COVID-19 pandemic with a limited ability to hold meetings and communicate remotely. The CEO said that he did not meet Karnišovas in person until after the Bulls had already given him the job. The Bulls also did not hire a search firm during the 2020 hiring process, an omission that Reinsdorf said the team will amend this time.
“I think this process is going to be very different,” Reinsdorf said. “We’ll probably talk to more people and get a better understanding of what some other organizations do. … I think hiring a search firm is going to be very helpful because they’re going to really be able to find all the people out there that I probably would never have found.”
Before the news conference, Reinsdorf said that he jotted down an early list of traits he hopes to find in a new top executive for the Bulls.
Those traits included a focus on process, an ability to predict trends, strong basketball evaluation, managerial savvy and an ability to “pull the trigger” with conviction when faced with tough decisions. Reinsdorf also emphasized the importance of both internal and external communication for a new hire, a notable weakness of the Karnišovas administration.
“We have a history at the Bulls in the top position — other than (John Paxson) — they haven’t always been the best communicators,” Reinsdorf said while laughing. “It wasn’t one of Artūras’ strengths, OK? … Our fans have the right to understand what we’re trying to accomplish.”
The past week threw sharp speculation onto Karnišovas after the waiving of Jaden Ivey. But Reinsdorf said ownership had been considering a departure from the office since last summer, denying a report that he extended Karnišovas and Eversley’s contracts.
“That’s just not true,” Reinsdorf said.
Reinsdorf gave slight praise to Karnišovas for the work done at the trade deadline to improve the team’s standing, moving as many contracts as possible to recoup draft picks to “clean it up” ahead of the summer. But even that effort wasn’t enough to convince Reinsdorf that Karnišovas could dig himself out of the cavernous hole represented by the last four years of failure in Chicago.
“We tried the other route,” Reinsdorf said. “We failed. And now we’re in position to get this right. Clean slate.”
One thing will remain consistent in Chicago if Reinsdorf gets his way — Donovan’s position as head coach. Reinsdorf confirmed that a primary focus for the team will be retaining the coach for the long-term. Donovan is currently set to meet with ownership next week to discuss his future following the end of the season.
“If someone’s not interested in Billy as our coach … then they’re probably not the right candidate for us,” Reinsdorf said.
Reinsdorf remained unilaterally opposed to tanking, describing the mechanism as “unfair to fans” and stating that Donovan would not have remained in the head coach position if asked to tank.
He also voiced a belief that teams can’t weight their own draft lottery odds enough to rationalize the practice of losing games on purpose, leaning on the popular adage that one won game — Josh Giddey hitting a buzzer-beater from half-court to beat the Los Angeles Lakers — shifted the odds to the favor of the Dallas Mavericks to earn the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2025.
“That’s just not who we are as an organization,” Reinsdorf said. “So I actually don’t have any regrets. The lottery is kind of a crapshoot anyways. … I don’t want to mess with the basketball gods. We’ll take our chances. We’re going to have a great pick this year regardless.”
But Reinsdorf did voice a desire for the Bulls to become better at tracking and predicting the market trends of the NBA, a trait that could include adhering to league-wide tanking norms if necessary.
The executive felt the Bulls were left behind in the wake of the 3-point boom that began in 2012, failing to draft players and craft rosters that would fit this style of play. Similarly, he felt the Bulls missed the mark in their anticipation of how salary caps would fluctuate over the last decade.
“We have to see where the league goes,” Reinsdorf said. “That’s really important, understanding that trend. We haven’t always done that. We haven’t always noticed and recognized the trends of where things are going.”
This hiring window will define the next generation of Bulls basketball.
The team has not won a playoff series in over a decade. It has tallied only two winning seasons in the same span. And history seemed to repeat itself in Chicago as the team remained mired in the mediocre middle ground of the Eastern Conference.
“We want to win, but we don’t want to win if it’s not sustainable,” Reinsdorf said. “I don’t want to be just good for one or two years. I want it to be year in, year out, we have a chance to be competitive and win. And maybe some of those years, we can go all the way.”