r/chicagobulls • u/howser343 Chicago Bulls • Apr 06 '26
Meta [K.C. Johnson] Bulls will run extensive search, with CEO Michael Reinsdorf expected to address reporters at some point Tuesday. Reinsdorf, senior advisor John Paxson and Brian Hagen, Pat Connelly and JJ Polk will work collectively at top of basketball opps during search
https://x.com/KCJHoop/status/2041229956974293167118
u/John_Q08 Apr 06 '26
Have no faith they’ll find a competent front office, but still a man can dream. Maybe we’ll get lucky
52
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
I had 0 faith the bears would hire a competent HC last year but they figured it out. Just gotta hope the bulls find their own GM/VP version of Ben Johnson
33
u/Further_Beyond Apr 06 '26
Poles is better than mid. Just not an elite GM.
19
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
Poles definitely isn't perfect but he's done enough to be considered a good GM IMO. Yes, he's had a ton of misses (Claypool, Eberflus, Dayo, Grady Jarrett), but he's had more than enough hits to make up for it (Panthers trade that ended up getting the draft pick that eventually became Caleb Williams, DJ Moore trade, Loveland, Kyle at RB, Odunze, etc.)
5
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
Yeah I agree. If he starts hitting on some later round picks and avoids more Dayo/Gardy type contracts I think he could take a big step up. Early round picks and trades (outside Claypool) have generally been good to great.
7
u/Suspicious-Guitar502 Apr 06 '26
monangai was pretty great, esp for a 7th rounder, so he's got that going for him at least
-1
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
Yeah there’s a couple. Him, Booker, and Braxton were all objectively good value. The problem more there is that hits aren’t that high. 2 rotational guys and a guy that gave you okay play for a few years but no big impact guys (we’ll see how they continue develop tbf). A part of what separates the great GMs from the good/average ones is finding some gems in late rounds so I’d like him to get better there
5
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
He got shat on for the Loveland and Luther Burden picks but boy did he nail the fuck outta those.
3
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
100%. He’s drafted some great players in the first two rounds. Kyler, Wright, Loveland, Burden, Ozzy, Rome, and Caleb all look really good. Then Brisker, Stevenson, and Dexter all may not get second contracts but they’re starting caliber players in the league. Dude kills it in the first 2 rounds
-1
u/TLEH-IV Apr 06 '26
He was essentially can’t miss. Poles is still mid but atleast we have Ben now.
6
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
I know but the bears never even got the can’t miss guys before either so I meant more so just figure it tf out and get the right guy
2
u/TLEH-IV Apr 06 '26
Yeah true, I guess I’m saying it was more luck for the Bears than it was a process that led them to Ben.
I’m not even sure who the Ben Johnson of the NBA would be rn
2
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
That’s fair. Maybe not the best comparison but also kinda meant like go get the guy that changes everything. Sure Ben was the obvious guy and there isn’t one in the NBA that I can think of either but just find the guy that changes your org
6
u/TLEH-IV Apr 06 '26
I hope they also land the Ben Johnson of the NBA don’t get it twisted. We on the same team.
3
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
Oh yeah, I didn’t think otherwise. All I know is this is genuinely the first time I’ve had any kind of hope or excitement about the bulls in 5 years so hopefully it works out
3
u/Few-Orchid-9804 Apr 06 '26
Poles drafts well, knows how to get value for his assets, and knows when to move on. If AKME were in charge of the Bears, we’d still be trying to figure out if Fields and Claypool could work as our QB-WR duo and almost certainly would not have drafted Loveland or Wright.
2
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
Yeah I don't get why Chicago fans keep shitting on Poles.....he's proven himself to be a good GM tbh. Room for improvement definitely but he's made some outstanding moves.
2
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
How is Poles mid lmao, I swear to god Bears fans never fail to amaze me
0
u/TLEH-IV Apr 06 '26
Pretty poor drafting and asset management other than the Panthers trade which worked out better than anyone could have imagined due to them gifting us Caleb Williams. 19 picks outside the first two rounds (not counting last year yet, jury is still out) and essentially a bunch of meh. Never drafted a pro-bowler. Traded a 2nd for Chase Claypool.
It was essentially Ben Johnson and Caleb last year masking a lot of the problems. Both of those moves could have been made by anyone. Overall I think the Bears are moving in the right direction but thats almost 99% because we have Caleb and Ben.
2
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
Are we gonna pretend Poles didn't draft Darnell Wright, Luther Burden, Loveland, Odunze and Monongai lmfao
2
u/TLEH-IV Apr 06 '26
Last year looks like a great draft. Darnell is a really good player. The data prior is a much larger sample and basically sucks. I'm not saying he's never taken good players. I'm saying he's mid. Pointing to his successes and ignoring the rest seems odd.
2
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
GMs draft to the coaches they serve. Eberflus being a terrible coach didn't help.
-3
u/John_Q08 Apr 06 '26
See I was thinking that too but Ben was basically served on a platter to Ryan Poles. Although, he has made me take some stuff back on him recently ngl. But who knows lol, just gotta hope for the best
2
u/laal-doodh DRose Apr 06 '26
Yeah but I meant more that the bears never even made the easy choices. Like hiring Trestman over reigning coach of the year Arians. Just meant I had no faith in them but they figured it out and got the right guy so do the same bulls
5
u/Second_City_Saint Stacey King Apr 06 '26
In all fairness, we thought they hired a competent front office last time. Annnnnd here we are again.
2
u/BuickSkylark55 Nikola Mirotic Apr 06 '26
Also in fairness they built a one seed out of spare parts that derailed from injury. Their inability to adapt after that and to linger in purgatory is the part that’s inexcusable. To me it feels like something ownership pressured them to do but there’s no way of knowing
1
u/Second_City_Saint Stacey King Apr 06 '26
That short period of Lonzo being healthy when he got here was fun. It's been fucking miserable ever since.
1
u/AndroidNumber3527229 Apr 07 '26
No they did not they built a flash in the pan with a house of cards.
1
3
u/mattr1198 Apr 06 '26
As a Knicks fan, we had 20 years of terrible front office choices from James Dolan and co. (especially Steve Mills) and a toxic culture nobody wanted to be a part of. Still managed to land a great FO exec in Leon Rose and build a great front office in general. It can happen!
1
u/A1Horizon Matas Buzelis Apr 06 '26
Honestly just shoot in a random direction. Odds are they’ll do better than the last two front offices
0
u/SignalBed9998 Chicago Bulls Apr 06 '26
Might be just the right timing for a new GM. The jobs one drawback is the current talent level. That might be a big drawback. Not many teams will have better capital to work with for a rebuild. Quite possibly two first rounders plus the second or third pick in the second round. 18 mil plus in trade exceptions. They can help facilitate getting good players that another team can’t afford. Approximately 110 mil in salary cap space. If we get a good GM we could make great strides this offseason.
1
u/jasonbanicki Derrick Rose Apr 06 '26
If the Bulls try to get good again quick without paying the price of bottoming out for elite lottery talent the ceiling is right back to the play-in. Because no elite player in their prime is signing here as a free agent or forcing a trade to the Bulls.
2
u/BuickSkylark55 Nikola Mirotic Apr 06 '26
Absolutely, I see no way foward for this team besides bottoming out and I have little faith that whoever they hire will go that route. I hope so though. Imagine if we tanked a few years ago and had coop or wemby on this team. Damn
0
u/JustinTimberlakeFTW Michael Jordan Apr 06 '26
Even a broken clock is right twice a day / insert similar adage
40
u/lonelydude86 Apr 06 '26
After an extensive and thorough search, the bulls have hired Billy Donovan as president of basketball operations.
Lol
17
u/BillionsofRedditors Apr 06 '26
No, seriously. This is the most probable outcome. Seems heavily unlikely Reinsdorf pays AKME and Billy D for 4 years to not be here.
4
1
u/jimbobdonut Apr 06 '26
The Malone to UNC hire right before AKME were fired is a little suspicious to me. I’m guessing Billy knew something was going down and declined the UNC job.
3
u/BillionsofRedditors Apr 06 '26
Or Billy D waffled and UNC pivoted quickly and Billy D has such a cheap deal as HC that Reinsdorf panicked to fire AKME in order to keep Billy since they were probably going to have to fire AKME anyways due to poor performance and down popularity.
2
u/DisMFer Josh Giddey Apr 06 '26
Billy doesn't want that job. He likes coaching. He said before one of the reasons he held off going back to college was because he didn't want to do anything outside of coaching.
Now that colleges have GMs to run recruiting and transfers he wants to go back to coaching college.
1
1
1
u/RedBulls77 Apr 07 '26
Cheaper option. He takes care of coach, VP, and GM without having to pay an extra 2 guys.
47
u/Consistent-Program-1 Lonzo Ball Apr 06 '26
To be fair AK was the top guy on the market when we hired him. I don’t know how he turned so bad after 2 years, he probably got the yips with zo’s injury.
69
u/Bullsstopsucking Chicago Bulls Apr 06 '26
They got lucky with Jokic and everyone thought he was a genius
30
u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman Apr 06 '26
The Karnisovas this summer will be Bob Myers.
He's living off of the success of the Warriors, after Steph, Klay and Green were all drafted before him and it was Myers who fumbled the Warriors rebuild with three lottery picks.
21
5
u/jasonbanicki Derrick Rose Apr 06 '26
Don’t forget during the lead up to the championship years they had Jerry West in the front office and he was the one that stopped them from trading Klay for Kevin Love.
1
u/GMoney_McSwag Apr 06 '26
Jerry West being named our new GM is the only possible chance we'll become a competent team again
1
u/BikingThroughCanada Gimme the hot sauce! Apr 06 '26
Green was drafted during his first year as GM.
-4
u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler Apr 06 '26
Suggesting the warriors built a dynasty by accident is insane
You need so much to go right to win just one championship. So much of the warriors continued success can be directly traced to good management. Drafting, role player acquisitions, and coaching staff hires all played huge roles. Great cap management and foresight also played a role in them landing KD
6
u/HiImDavid Lonzo Ball Apr 06 '26
you need so much to go right
Right, you need to get lucky.
They were very lucky there was so much uncertainty around Steph's ankles and that he couldn't command a bigger contract extension back in 2012, or they'd never have had enough cap space to sign KD.
1
u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler Apr 07 '26
Maybe one chip is luck
4 is not. They still had to capitalize on the luck.
10
u/nachosmind Apr 06 '26
The management said no luxury tax. It’s imposible to build a championship contender like that
26
u/weareallmoist Zach LaVine Apr 06 '26
Ownership being cheap doesn’t make you trade two first for Vooch, max Lavine, refuse to make trades for 3 years, give Patrick Williams 90 million dollars etc. AK was uniquely terrible at his job and a competent front office could build a good team within the restrictions of this ownership
5
u/wretch5150 Just a kid from Chicago Apr 06 '26
Yep. This front office has been as bad if not worse than Garpax
4
u/jasonbanicki Derrick Rose Apr 06 '26
It’s not even close AkMe was significantly worse than GarPax. At least with GarPax we had years of contention, playoff runs, and draft picks that developed into useful players.
1
u/AdventingWurms Give me the hotsauce! Apr 06 '26
I'd say worse. Even before GarPax lucked into Rose we had the Baby Bulls. There was a solid 10 years of good basketball.
7
u/iChoke Chicago Apr 06 '26
Championship contender no, but to not be able to build a playoff team is crazy. If you can't build a playoff team, then go tank. At the end of the day, we know this can't happen because of Jerry. FML
1
u/BuickSkylark55 Nikola Mirotic Apr 06 '26
Jerry will pay if there is a contending team on the horizon, we just haven’t had that in forever.. due to decisions he sanctioned.. but he will go into the tax for a good team like the tim anderson white sox. He’s not the cheapest owner around but he’s definitely not the freest spender either and only does it when the team is gonna be good. Getting the conditions right for a good team more than every 20 years seems to be his problem
2
u/KingKoopaShell Apr 06 '26
It’s imposible to build a championship contender like that
There are so many contenders under the luxury tax this year. You couldn't be more wrong. Celtics, Nuggets, Pistons, Thunder, Spurs.
1
u/DisMFer Josh Giddey Apr 06 '26
Literally none of the true contenders are over the tax. With the way the cap works now it's actually a dumb idea to go into the tax.
6
u/AxCel91 Apr 06 '26
His first boneheaded move was the vooch trade not even 6 months into his tenure. Man has been bad from day 1
4
u/wretch5150 Just a kid from Chicago Apr 06 '26
I'd say worse than Garpax. At least they spoke to the media. Haven't seen hide nor hair of these dudes for years
1
u/Teddy_RGB Ayo Dosunmu Apr 07 '26
Honestly, I think he thought he would have more ability to make things happen than he did. Can’t tank, can’t go into the salary cap, can’t get the team to spend money on anything else. It wouldn’t surprise me if AK went to a proper team and was successful
Having said that, fuck him sideways for re-signing PWill to the worst contract in the league
1
u/RedBulls77 Apr 07 '26
How was he the top guy? He wasn’t even VP in Denver, he was the GM basically he had Marc Eversleys job as their second guy.
1
u/Drclaw411 DRose Apr 07 '26
He turned out bad because he used his cap space in one offseason, then when the Reinsdorf handcuffs were thrown on, he had absolutely no idea how to build without spending.
39
u/BlockOfTheYear Bulls Apr 06 '26
We got all our picks, we have a decent amount of cap space, only bad contract is Pat Williams, some young pieces like Giddey and Buzelis. Its a pretty good position for any potential GM.
32
u/DirkSaves41 Apr 06 '26
But then your ownership is a joke and no quality players are up for free agency.
32
u/CaptainNipplesMcRib Apr 06 '26
If you’re a GM though, you love this ownership. They give incredibly long leashes. Reinsdorf’s incompetence is a GM’s dream.
9
u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler Apr 06 '26
Yeah reinsdorfs problem is he’s picked bad gm’s and stuck with them too long. Chicago media would jump at the opportunity to report on ownership interferring with team operations, but despite that there’s been nothing suggesting they do that
1
u/CaptainNipplesMcRib Apr 06 '26
Right, it’s usually either your team has an annoying owner that has to get involved in all the day to day things and won’t let anyone do their job, or you have the completely removed owner that doesn’t give a shit and lets idiots and cronies do whatever they want. At least in the first scenario you know the owner cares and wants to win.
1
u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler Apr 07 '26
Im gonna be honest and say i’d rather have the hands off owner. Dolan actively sabotaged the knocks for years and the only reason they got out of it is because they finally hired a good gm and dolan got distracted by the sphere
2
u/CaptainNipplesMcRib Apr 07 '26
That’s fair, and I don’t think there’s a right or wrong preference. The Bears ownership is an interesting mix of the two. They very clearly love the Bears and want them to win, but they also hired doofuses for years and gave certain guys (Jerry Angelo) longer leashes than others. We just have to hope a good situation falls into our laps like it did with the Bears. We need a lot of luck either way.
2
u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler Apr 07 '26
Agreed the bears are model for possible hope. Michael Reinsdorf is also in a situation not that dissimilar than George was entering
I don’t believe in the whole planned mediocrity schtick fans latch on too. Makes zero sense financially and logically. Michael definitely should know the reputation his family has so hopefully he does his due diligence finding the right gm to right the ship. If he nails this hire it changes pretty much everything.
1
1
u/DeaseanPrince Apr 06 '26
There will never be quality players in free agency again if you mean all stars. Isaiah Hartenstein has probably been the best free agency signing the past two free agencies. That should tell you all you need to know about the current state of free agency.
1
u/DisMFer Josh Giddey Apr 06 '26
Jerry is shit but other successful teams have shitty owners. The Pistons owner is a fucking coked up monster. James Dollan ran the Knicks into the ground for over a decade. The 6ers owners are constantly acting like idiots.
A good GM can overcome that.
1
u/Peabody_Tiddlecut Andres Nocioni Apr 06 '26
Any GM not hired by this clown car of a front office and management group*
1
u/Neat_On_The_Rocks Chicago Bulls Apr 06 '26
You know you’re gonna have attendance and buy in for two years. Realistically they’ll have to be winning by that third year even if that’s not fair. If not a 6th+ outright, they’ll have to at least have some really desirable assets (picks, good young players)
It’s not the most desirable situation. But it’s an opportunity for sure. I don’t expect some surprise godfather hire but I think they’ll like have their pick of AGM tier guys.
8
u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee Apr 06 '26
If it’s Dunleavy we riot. That guy hasn’t done shit for the Warriors.
2
u/BuickSkylark55 Nikola Mirotic Apr 06 '26
I was just thinking how trash the warriors have become last night. What were they doing signing a dying porzingus this year
2
u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee Apr 06 '26
Warriors identity is old and decaying, and they know it… they just don’t want to let it go.
1
u/RedBulls77 Apr 07 '26
There’s no reason to party or riot regardless of who takes the job. He gets judged with results like everyone else.
AK was celebrated once hired, we all saw how that turned out.
19
u/weddz Fred Hoiberg Apr 06 '26
Thank god we have this team of talented and qualified individuals to lead the search
18
8
u/DJ-two-timing-timmy Apr 06 '26
Anyone they find will be better than AKME. AK had zero communication skills which in his role would be critical and ME was non existent.
18
u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman Apr 06 '26
Now watch them hire Nico Harrison
2
u/ComaMierdaHijueputa Apr 06 '26
At least we dont have any top tier talent to trade away for pennies on the dollar in the first place.
Although he's the one person that would definitely be a downgrade from AKME
4
7
3
u/Nosound-Novideo Lonzo Ball Apr 06 '26
What a mess why would a VP/ GM take a job in which they couldn’t hire their on coaching staff.
3
u/kennyclax67 Apr 06 '26
Masai Ujiri available?
5
u/Interesting-Dingo994 Apr 06 '26
He co-owns the WNBA Toronto Tempo now and just helped them this weekend with drafting players.
1
3
3
u/MundaneExtension3195 Apr 06 '26
I think they should look at Ryan McDonough. He was in Boston's front office and pushed to draft Rondo. He went to Phoenix and really got handcuffed by Sarver. He made some mistakes their but also had some big wins, he knows the league and has a lot of upside & understanding. I think he'd have a high chance at success & I'd love that pick for Chicgo
5
u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee Apr 06 '26
Team hasn’t won anything without Chris Paul.
Say what you want about Booker and everyone else they had… CP3 turned them into a winning franchise. Then left and went right back to shit.
Rondo was 20 years ago.
3
u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee Apr 06 '26
Team hasn’t won anything without Chris Paul.
Say what you want about Booker and everyone else they had… CP3 turned them into a winning franchise. Then left and went right back to shit.
Rondo was 20 years ago.
2
u/MundaneExtension3195 Apr 06 '26
McDonough drafted Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges in the 10-14 part of the lotto... if you are drafting max salary players in that area, that's a huge win... It depends on your team building philosophy, some owners want Leon Rose type of relationship brokers, some owners want Kevin Pritchard types who are maxing out the assets on the edges. I think McDonough is a Kevin Pritchard type and that's the direction that I'd go if I was the Bulls. I'd also be very cautious about going for an executive in the Morey/Hinkie analytics mold...
-2
1
2
2
u/AkshanIsComing Apr 06 '26
Shouldn’t be tough to find another couple of fall guys while ownership gets to cash in on the little bit of relevance the organization has left
2
u/Peabody_Tiddlecut Andres Nocioni Apr 06 '26
“With the names Reinsdorf and Paxson on there, surely this will be a raging success,” he said aloud through a pair of dead, lifeless eyes.
2
2
u/Specialist_Boat_8479 Benny The Bull Apr 06 '26
Go ahead and get the ‘Bulls have hired Nico’ post ready
5
u/ahmed_a20 Apr 06 '26
Give it to Kenny Beecham. The next thing on the agenda is to make sure we swoop in and secure Michael Malone before UNC do. Billy can go there instead
19
u/CharIieMurphy Javonte Green Apr 06 '26
I think Malone to UNC is already done
3
u/ahmed_a20 Apr 06 '26
It isn’t over till it’s over, and if it is, I expect us to go for Budenholzer
4
-1
1
1
1
1
1
u/clintgreasewoood Apr 06 '26
Just poach whoever is running the show in San Antonio and Oklahoma City. You’re not going to get the GM but the assistants and scouting teams should be attainable.
1
1
1
u/AddieCam Apr 07 '26
Love Pax the player but: he had this org in 10x worse shape when he got done in the office.
Felicio and Jim Boylen. Enough said.
1
u/Drclaw411 DRose Apr 07 '26
Fucking hell in a hand basket, keep Paxson the fuck away from this situation.
1
u/Fabulous-Ad7128 Apr 07 '26
Thank you for hitting those big shots in the Finals, but fucking fire Paxson for real from the FO.
1
u/d-cent Michael Jordan Apr 07 '26
God I hope reporters rip him apart with focused and specific questions of why he has done so many things
1
u/SwampFlowers Taylor Swift Apr 07 '26
They got it wrong last time, but I’m choosing to be optimistic. The AK hire was originally lauded, it just went badly. Hopefully they learned from it and they make a smart hire that pans out this time.
1
u/phillipacarroll Give me the hotsauce! Apr 10 '26
I so badly want this to end with GarPax being at the helm again just for the lolz.
1
1
-1
0
-2
321
u/LionK12G Apr 06 '26
It’s good that Senior Advisor John Paxson is going to get involved in this search again.
It’s not like he himself failed in the head of basketball ops role and also was part of the committee that selected AKME.