Chicago Bulls president and chief operating officer Michael Reinsdorf appears to be responding to a growing chorus of fans and critics and will hire a new executive to oversee basketball operations.
The successful candidate will have full authority over basketball decisions, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi reported on Friday, detailing two known candidates are Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster and Denver Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas.
Executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman could remain in place, though the future of Forman is far less certain, Wojnarowski reported. The timeline for a decision would put a new executive in place before the current NBA season resumes.
Paxson was named general manager of the Bulls in 2003 and moved to a vice president’s role in 2009 when Forman was hired.
The Bulls plan to talk to multiple candidates for the new front-office role, ESPN reported.
Almost one year ago, Paxson preached patience and said the franchise would not tear down the structure of its current rebuild to make a splash in free agency.
There have been numerous clashes between coach Jim Boylen and players over his approach, and the Bulls have missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. With the current season on hiatus, Chicago is eight games behind the Orlando Magic for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls, currently in 11th place in the conference standings, tied their 2018-19 win total with 22. They are 22-43.
The Chicago Tribune reported a new management structure would not include any order to retain Boylen, to whom Paxson and Forman have been committed, as head coach.
Boylen, the 23rd coach in franchise history, replaced Fred Hoiberg in 2018. Hoiberg took over for Tom Thibodeau, who as at the helm from 2010-2015.
–Field Level Media
