With a new executive vice president of basketball operations in place, the Bulls have reportedly moved on to hiring a general manager to pair with him.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson reported early Monday morning that Chicago has come to terms with Philadephia 76ers Vice President of Player Personnel Marc Eversley, who will join Arturas Karnisovas in a reshaped front office aiming to turn around the Bulls.
Once the move becomes official, Eversley will become the first black general manager in Bulls history. Chicago previously had seen former Bulls players B.J. Armstrong and Randy Brown hold assistant general manager roles years ago.
ESPN story on 76ers executive Marc Eversley agreeing to a deal to become the general manager of the Chicago Bulls. https://t.co/WFcREkVd1W
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2020
Source: Bulls reach agreement to make Marc Eversley general manager | NBC Sports Chicago https://t.co/IgQa1ShSDe
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 27, 2020
Eversley joined the 76ers front office in 2016, helping turn Philadelphia into a playoff contender. He was part of the group that acquired J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, additions that helped the 76ers extend eventual champion Toronto to Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals.
Since taking over as Chicago’s executive vice president of basketball operations in mid-April, Karnisovas has been busy. He reached agreements with former Pelicans front office official J.J. Polk to become the Bulls’ assistant general manager and for Pat Connelly to join the team as vice president of player personnel, Wojnarowski and Johnson both report.
Before working in front-office roles with the Sixers, Eversley spent time with the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors and worked at Nike for a decade.
The Bulls came into the season thinking they were poised to contend for a playoff spot. Instead, they were 11th in the Eastern Conference at 22-43 and on the way to their third straight losing record when the NBA suspended play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that his general manager is in place, Karnisovas has another important decision to make.
That would be whether to keep coach Jim Boylen. With a 39-84 record since replacing Fred Hoiberg early last year, he could be on shaky ground.
Though Zach LaVine was averaging a career-high 25.5 points, Lauri Markkanen’s scoring and rebounding dipped in his third season. The 7-footer from Finland was averaging 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds — down from 18.7 and 9.0. Rookie Coby White had come on strong before play was stopped and was averaging 13.2 points after being drafted with the No. 7 pick.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
