Are the Chicago Bulls finally ready to lean into a rebuild?

Following the second consecutive Play-In exit, Chicago Bulls EVP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas finally admitted it was time for change.

After trading Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey last week and drafting Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick in the first round of Wednesday’s NBA Draft, it appears that change is already underway.

“When I last saw you guys I told you we needed to make changes,” Karnisovas said in his opening remarks to the media following the draft. “And we have started that process. While I cannot speak to all of the potential changes, it’s hard to predict what we might look like in a week or two.”

“I take my role of reshaping this team very seriously and tonight was an important step in that direction,” he continued. “As I’ve said everything is on the table. I want fans to know we are committed to the process of building a team for long term success. We’ve made some initial changes this offseason and now our focus shifts on Friday to free agency.”

Clearly, there has been a prioritization on youth, positional size and upside. Then, how do DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine factor into things? The former is a free agent who may seek more winning opportunities elsewhere, while the latter is the league’s most obvious trade candidate.

“As I said before, we’re gonna look at everything. Everything is on the table,” Karnisovas said when asked whether he will look to re-sign DeRozan. A far cry from his previous comments.

Does the front office instead look to commit to the young core they seem to be assembling? If so, how does Patrick Williams factor into things as a restricted free agent?

Is it fair to look to the previous two moves — Giddey and Buzelis — as a precursor to imminent change?

[More on Karnisovas’ comments about the selection of Matas Buzelis]

Starting with the Giddey trade, it seems Karnisovas identified the talent he was after, forgoing an opportunity to collect picks in order to secure a specific player.

“I’m obviously happy about the trade. I’m happy that we were able to get this deal done and bring Josh to Chicago,” Karnisovas said. “Bringing a very talented guard that is an elite playmaker and rebounder with elite size, his game is predicated on making everyone better around him. Those guys are hard to find and they’re not available. We were fortunate to get him. And it comes at the high price, which was AC.”

Giddey is younger and represents a shot at upside. That’s something the Bulls desperately need regardless of how much they tear things down. And the Bulls continue to bet heavily on their player development staff to improve their prospects.

“He’s still 21. His production was really good the last three years,” Karnisovas said. “He has room for growth. And I think, you know, coming here to Chicago, he’s going to be able to demonstrate more playmaking and he’ll make everyone else better. Probably one of the areas that he’s going to get better. Actually, you know, most of the players that come into our league, become a better shooter. So I think once he becomes a better shooter, he’s going to be a threat, and then he’s going to be able to play make much better. Like I said, you know, I was close to him and it was you know, 6’8”, 4 guard, you know, great size and I always liked the fact that he rebounded, which we also need help with.”

Still, it’s concerning that the Bulls would enter a re-tool or tear down without first accumulating picks. Especially when their own pick will turn into a pick for the San Antonio Spurs if it falls outside the top-10 in the draft.

“That’s the trade that we preferred over picks because it’s hard to acquire players this young, this productive, that early in their careers. Especially when he already has like 11 triple-doubles in this career. We were just excited and we thought that was the price to pay for Josh.”

More concerning, Karnisovas said the direction of the team would not be dictated by the outgoing protected pick.

“I don’t think our plans for next year are going to be impacted by our pick…I think directional stuff will be in the next two weeks, so we’ll have more information, and we’ll be able to see what we look like as a team,” Karnisovas said.

The most important thing the franchise can do this season is keep themselves in a loaded 2025 Draft. So while we wait to hear about next steps with DeRozan and LaVine, it’s hard to imagine the front office sees a future with the core that failed the last three seasons.

It may not be possible for Karnisovas to publicly state it at this point in the summer, but all signs point towards a much needed rebuild.

Injury updates:

• Zach LaVine (foot) is fully cleared to play. The Bulls will continue to search for teams onto whom they can offload his salary.
• Patrick Williams (foot) is “still on his way to recovery,” says Karnisovas. “I think so,” Karnisovas said when asked whether Williams would be ready to start the year. “He was planning to be ready for training camp. ” Williams’ restricted free agency looms.
• Lonzo Ball (knee) is “cleared to do pretty much everything on the floor,” according to Karnisovas. “We’ll continue to strengthen him and next two months, we’ll see what he’s going to look like.” There is optimism he will be ready to play if things continue to progress well into the fall.

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