The Bulls, reportedly, are now focused on hiring a general manager to work alongside their newly appointed executive vice president of basketball operations.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson reported early Monday morning that Chicago has come to terms with Philadephia 76ers Vice President of Player Personnel Marc Eversley, who will join Arturas Karnisovas in a reshaped front office aiming to turn around the Bulls.
Once the decision is finalized, Eversley will make history as the first black general manager of the Bulls. Chicago has had former Bulls players B.J. Armstrong and Randy Brown in the position of assistant general manager in the past.
ESPN story on 76ers executive Marc Eversley agreeing to a deal to become the general manager of the Chicago Bulls. https://t.co/WFcREkVd1W
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2020
Source: Bulls reach agreement to make Marc Eversley general manager | NBC Sports Chicago https://t.co/IgQa1ShSDe
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 27, 2020
In 2016, Eversley became a part of the 76ers front office, contributing to Philadelphia’s transformation into a playoff contender. His team was instrumental in acquiring J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler, and Tobias Harris. These acquisitions were key in the 76ers pushing the eventual 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals champion, Toronto, to a decisive Game 7.
Since taking over as Chicago’s executive vice president of basketball operations in mid-April, Karnisovas has been busy. He reached agreements with former Pelicans front office official J.J. Polk to become the Bulls’ assistant general manager and for Pat Connelly to join the team as vice president of player personnel, Wojnarowski and Johnson both report.
Eversley spent time working at Nike for a decade, and with the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, before taking on front-office roles with the Sixers.
The Bulls entered the season with playoff aspirations. However, they found themselves in the 11th spot in the Eastern Conference with a 22-43 record, heading towards their third consecutive losing season. This was when the NBA halted play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that Karnisovas has his general manager in place, he has another significant decision to make.
The question is whether they should retain coach Jim Boylen. His 39-84 record since taking over from Fred Hoiberg early last year might leave his position unstable.
Despite Zach LaVine averaging a career-high 25.5 points, Lauri Markkanen’s performance saw a decrease in his third season with his scoring and rebounding dipping. The Finnish 7-footer’s averages dropped to 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, down from his previous 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds. On the brighter side, rookie Coby White showed promising performance before play was halted, averaging 13.2 points after being the No. 7 pick in the draft.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
