The Chicago Bulls are trying to figure out a path forward after a disappointing end to their season, and it sounds like major changes may be on the way.
Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas offered a fairly damning quote about the team’s roster when addressing the media on Saturday. Karnisovas bluntly said the current group, as constructed, “hasn’t worked.”
Artūras Karnišovas again gives strong endorsement of Billy Donovan and says it's management's job to provide Donovan with better resources.
"This group hasn't worked," Karnišovas said.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 20, 2024
The Bulls attempted to build around a quartet of Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic. Ball and LaVine have battled with injuries and the team has only made the playoffs once, a campaign that ended with an early postseason exit in 2022.
The trouble for the Bulls is it isn’t obvious what big changes they can make. Ball hopes to come back from his long-term knee problems, while LaVine’s trade value was pretty much decimated by a season-ending injury just as his market seemed to be establishing itself. The team may have no choice but to look into a DeRozan trade, as he might be their most valuable asset at this point.
Though the Bulls did make the Play-In Tournament, they went just 39-43 and would not have been viewed as a contender to do much of anything even if they had made it into the postseason. Things are going to have to change, but that is easier said than done.
