Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas must do these 4 things to save the franchise

The Chicago Bulls finally have a new man in charge. Arturas Karnisovas has been tabbed as the franchise’s next executive VP of basketball operations after spending the last three seasons as general manager of the Denver Nuggets. The Bulls’ former managerial tandem of John Paxson and Gar Forman remain on the payroll, but Karnisovas reportedly has full autonomy over franchise’s basketball decisions.

Chicago has been pleading for this moment for years. Paxson had been the Bulls’ top basketball executive since 2003, overseeing the rise of the team during the start of the last decade behind Derrick Rose and Tom Thibodeau only to fumble a long list of decisions as that era unraveled. Bulls fans turned “Fire GarPax” into a rallying cry to save the franchise, putting up billboards around the city, turning the phrase into a trending hashtag, and bombarding television interviews with chants at every opportunity.

“GarPax” might not be fired, but they have allegedly been stripped of their power — even if Paxson was reportedly the biggest driving force behind bringing in a new voice. It has been a while since Bulls fans have had something to celebrate, and many of them are treating this like a seventh championship.

For the Bulls, hiring anyone with ties outside the organization is a massive shift in style. Both Paxson and his predecessor Jerry Krause worked for the franchise before being elevated to lead basketball decision-maker. Karnisovas is the first fresh voice hired to lead the team since Jerry Reinsdorf bought the franchise in 1985.

The Bulls have devolved into one of the NBA’s biggest punchlines over the last few years. Karnisovas will have a chance to correct that and get the Bulls back to their rightful place as one of the league’s premier franchises. He has a lot of work to do. Here are a few place he can start.

While the hiring of Karnisovas is earning the Bulls high marks from NBA insiders, it didn’t happen without controversy. The Bulls failed to interview a minority candidate during their search, which frustrated black executives around the league. Karnisovas should make it a point to bring in mores fresh perspectives with an emphasis on greater diversity as he hires his staff.

Paxson led a mostly white organization during his nearly 20 years in charge. Paxson hired just one black head coach in former teammate Bill Cartwright, and he was let go all the way back in 2004. Paxson’s front office was also almost exclusively made up of older white men, with Forman, Doug Collins, and Paxson’s brother Jim making up the braintrust.

Replacing head coach Jim Boylen is an easy first move for Karnisovas — Boylen won only 31 percent of his games since taking over for Fred Hoiberg and often felt like the most overmatched coach in the league. Karnisovas will have his choice of quality options, potentially led by former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson and Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin, who was Karnisovas’ former teammate at Seton Hall.

The Bulls need more than a coach, though. Chicago’s front office, scouting, and analytics department has been one of the league’s smallest operations for years. The Bulls need to beef up the staff to throw out old biases and inject new eyes. As long as ownership gives Karnisovas the financial flexibility to hire who he wants, this should be a great opportunity for the franchise.

(Update: Karnisovas plans to hire a person of color as general manager, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports)

The Bulls won’t have much salary cap flexibility during the upcoming NBA offseason, but that shouldn’t stop the team from being aggressive in reshaping the roster. Karnisovas started his front office career learning from Daryl Morey in Houston, where he saw first-hand how an aggressive decision-maker operates. He’d be wise to carry that attitude with him to Chicago.

The Bulls have some intriguing young pieces on the roster, led by Wendell Carter Jr., Lauri Markkanen, Coby White, and Zach LaVine. The problem is those players haven’t been able to lead the team to many wins. The jump up the standings the Bulls expected to take this season never came to fruition amid injury woes and league-worst coaching. Karnisovas doesn’t need to sell off the roster for the sake of change, but he should give a fresh evaluation to each the core pieces and determine their league-wide value.

In a scenario where Karnisovas tears down the roster, the Bulls really can’t get much worse. Since trading Jimmy Butler ahead of the 2017-18 season, the Bulls have failed to win even 35 percent of their games in a single season. Chicago has picked No. 7 overall in the last three NBA drafts, and would enter this year’s draft lottery at No. 7 again if the season ended today. Karnisovas simply doesn’t have much to lose by being aggressive in trades.

The Bulls’ status as a punchline was cemented as Chicago hosted NBA All-Star Weekend earlier this year. The Bulls had no presence during the event, and the national spotlight was focused on the organization’s shortcomings. This wasn’t always the case: Chicago is a basketball-crazy city and has annually packed the United Center with league-leading attendance numbers. The Bulls can still be a premier franchise as long as Karnisovas gives them a face lift.

Free agency will be the real test. The Bulls regularly came up woefully short in free agency during Paxson’s tenure, striking out on LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and many more while often settling for second and third tier players. Anthony Davis, who was born and raised in the city, reportedly had zero interest in playing for his hometown team when he was on the trade block. Karnisovas will be hailed as a hero if he can finally bring in a big fish.

The goal for the Bulls is to no longer be mentioned alongside woebegone franchises like the Knicks and Kings. This team should be a sleeping giant in a perpetually underwhelming Eastern Conference with some inspired, new leadership. Which brings us to the last point ...

Bulls fans didn’t want Paxson and Forman to be hidden. They wanted them to be fired. While Chicago didn’t get its wish in that regard, it certainly appears that Karnisovas will have total authority in leading the franchise. He should know that just because Paxson is sticking around as an “advisor” and Forman is likely staying on as a scout doesn’t mean he has to listen to them.

Every dollar the Bulls continue to pay to Paxson and Forman is money that could be spent elsewhere. While Bulls fans will rightfully be worried that they could maintain influence within the organization, all reports point to Karnisovas reshaping the franchise in his own image.

“Fire GarPax” didn’t happen, but this feels like the next best thing. There’s a new leader in town for the Bulls. It’s about damn time.