Is Bulls executive VP Arturas Karnisovas again focused on sample sizes?
Twenty games.
That was all the sample size Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas needed to see last April to make the decision to run the core roster back, plus a few tweaks, like adding Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball.
He said as much on several occasions, pointing out the 15-5 finish to the 2024-25 regular season.
Forget the fact that Miami took the Bulls to the woodshed in the play-in game, Karnisovas’ mind was made up.
So what will be the sample-size sword he falls on now as the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaches? Will it be the four straight wins entering Monday? Or maybe the 14-8 record in their last 22? How about Karnisovas simply judges the roster in totality, realizing they are a game over .500 at 23-22, sitting in a very familiar spot of the play-in pool, resting at the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference?
That’s where it gets tricky with Karnisovas.
Commonsense has screamed pick a different lane for the last few seasons, but he has kept the gas pedal to the floor on the track of mediocrity.
Have lessons been learned, however?
That’s what will be found out sooner than later.
Billy Donovan meets with his front office on an almost daily basis, whether it’s a casual phone call or a face-to-face, so he was asked if the next six games leading into the deadline could sway a direction one way or the other.
“It seems like all the movement happens the day before, the day of so to speak, where there’s so much activity,” the Bulls coach said. “They haven’t told me, ‘Listen, these next (six) games or whatever it is up to the deadline, we’re going to really take a hard look at the team.’ I imagine they’re evaluating that, but I talk to Arturas and (general manager) Marc (Eversley) when we see each other, if they’re not on the road scouting, every day, but a lot of it is just about our team.”
Donovan did point out that the Bulls have potentially seven free agents this summer, which should influence roster decisions, but until he’s told differently it’s business as usual for him and his staff.
“With the number of guys we have that are going to be free agents at the end of the season, I just think there’s probably going to be conversations they have, but a lot of it is going to be does it make sense? You have to have (trade) partners to do that, right?” Donovan continued. “I’m sure they’re all in communication and talking, and they’ve always been very gracious to come to me and say, ‘This is what we’re talking about, this is what’s going on.’ But I haven’t had any of that or anything that would indicate these next (six) games before the trade deadline are going to be really critical for the team.”
Of the pending free agents – Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Jevon Carter and the rookie contract of Dalen Terry – White has been the biggest focal point in the rumor mill since the start of the season.
Collins (toe) has been injured off and on, while there has been growing momentum that the team would like to try and keep Huerter and Dosunmu once July free agency hits. The market has been quiet around Vucevic, so that could further limit options.
White, however, remains the wildcard, especially because he’s made it very apparent to the Bulls and possible trade suitors that he wants to shop the market come July.
What the Bulls have on their side is time, knowing it only takes one team to change White’s future, but if Karnisovas has already made up his mind on staying pat none of it really matters at this point.