Chicago Bulls Front Office Finally Feeling "Pressure" to Get Things Right

It may be the middle of January, but the Chicago Bulls' front office is reportedly feeling the heat.

The organization sits in no-man's land for the fourth consecutive season. Their record of 19-21 has them perfectly positioned for another Play-In Tournament appearance, one that projects to end in their fourth consecutive loss. It's a position that many around the league work hard to avoid – not good enough to win a playoff series but not bad enough to reap the benefits on draft night.

It's why many have continued to advocate for the Bulls to press the reset button. The NBA trade deadline is roughly three weeks away, and few franchises are in a better position to make some noise than Chicago. They have seven expiring contracts to work with, as well as coveted guards like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. If there were ever a time to enter the tank race and try something new, this would be that time.

Nevertheless, skepticism that Karnisovas will pick a new lane is an all-too-fair response to the recent flow of rumors. The front office leader has sat out multiple deadlines in the past, preaching competitive integrity. He has most recently suggested that developing young talent and winning games are simultaneous priorities. All that has done is lead them to the same place.

Bulls fans may finally have a reason to believe this deadline will be different, however. Tied alongside the slew of rumors have come more direct reports about the front office's increased willingness to make moves. And Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times may have had the most important update yet on where things stand in the lead-up to the deadline.

"The executive knows he has to pick a different path in fixing the damage of far too many passive decisions, and for the first time since taking the job is feeling the pressure from his bosses to get this going in a different direction," Cowley wrote on Thursday.

Mediocre year after mediocre year, ownership has had the lead executive's back. They even reportedly gave Karnisovas and Marc Eversley contract extensions this past summer. Billy Donovan received the same treatment. Now, however, we have a reason to believe that Karnisovas' seat could finally be at room temperature. And that feels significant with the deadline looming.

Will "Pressure" Finally Force Real Change for Chicago Bulls?

Arturas Karnisovas of the Chicago Bulls — Sep 30, 2024; Chicago, Il, USA; Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas speaks during Chicago Bulls Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Look, does this mean I expect Arturas Karnisovas to be on his way out with another underwhelming trade deadline? No. We all know it takes A LOT for this ownership group to shake up anything upstairs. But we are also not in Karnisovas' shoes. If all he's been used to is blind complacency, even a small change in tone from Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf could feel like a pretty drastic shift.

Everything starts at the top. The Bulls have made three straight Play-In Tournaments because they have been allowed to make three straight Play-In Tournaments. If this is no longer seen as an acceptable outcome, we truly do have reason to believe that Karnisovas and company will do something to change this organization's fate.

The real question, though, is what will that something be? Since we have never heard about ownership putting pressure on this group until now, it's hard to know exactly how they will respond. Will it be the full sell-off and tank that many have advocated for in recent weeks? This would make a lot of sense both from a roster-building standpoint and a job security standpoint. When you start a true rebuild, you typically buy yourself more time.

With that said, what if Karnisovas responds in the opposite fashion? What if he panics and goes after a player like Anthony Davis or Domantas Sabonis in hopes that it lifts Chicago into the playoff picture? While this may feel like the less likely path, this is far closer to the approach we have seen him take in the past. Not to mention, it falls more in line with all the competitive integrity talk we have heard over the past few years.

On the one hand, doing anything is better than doing nothing. The NBA is all about picking a direction and going full speed ahead. The sooner the Bulls do that, the better off they will be.

On the other hand, I think we all know there is a time in place for both a short-term and long-term mindset. The Bulls are undoubtedly in a situation where the latter makes the most sense, and one can only hope that this "pressure" leads them to realize just that.