Bulls fire Arturas Karnisovas and
Marc Eversley after six years in a front-office shakeup
[April 07, 2026]
By ANDREW SELIGMAN
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls gutted their roster prior to the
trade deadline. The team's top two basketball executives won't be
around for the next phase of the revamp.
The Bulls fired executive vice president of basketball operations
Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley on Monday,
ending a six-year run that produced just one playoff appearance.
Chicago was 224-254 during their tenure. The Bulls entered Monday
sitting in 12th place in the Eastern Conference at 29-49 and missing
the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf said in a statement that
Karnisovas and Eversley “led with a deep commitment to the Chicago
Bulls” and that the change is “about positioning our team for
sustained success moving ahead.”
“I want our fans to know that I hear you and understand your
frustration," Reinsdorf said. "I feel it as well. I know this will
take time, and I am fully committed to getting this right. At the
Chicago Bulls, our focus remains on building a team that can compete
at the highest level and ultimately contend for championships. We
are committed to taking the necessary steps to move the Bulls
forward in a way that makes our fans proud.”
The Bulls tore up their roster leading up to the trade deadline in
February, dealing Nikola Vucevic to Boston, Kevin Huerter to
Detroit, Coby White to Charlotte and Chicago product Ayo Dosunmu to
Minnesota in an effort to shake up a franchise mired in mediocrity.
They hung on to Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey with the idea of
building around those two. The Bulls have the salary-cap room to
make some big moves this offseason.
“Being in the middle is what we don’t want to do,” Karnisovas said
at the time. “I think we’ve seen that for the past four years and we
want to change that.”
That's mostly where the franchise has been since Karnisovas was
hired out of Denver's front office in April 2020. The Bulls brought
in Eversley from Philadelphia a few weeks later and hired coach
Billy Donovan that September. Donovan's future is uncertain.
The Bulls' lone playoff appearance since all three were hired came
during the 2021-22 season, when they finished sixth in the Eastern
Conference at 46-36 and got knocked out by Milwaukee in the first
round. The Bulls lost point guard Lonzo Ball to a knee injury during
that season, and he missed the next two years.
Chicago's most recent All-Star was DeMar DeRozan in 2023. The lack
of a franchise cornerstone player was glaring, and Karnisovas'
reluctance to launch into a major rebuild was a big source of
frustration among Bulls fans. Rather than give the team the best
shot at winning the lottery, he stressed patience and not skipping
steps.
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Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team executive Marc Eversley
speaks during a pre-draft workout at the Sixers Training Complex, on
June 13, 2019, in Camden, N.J. (Tim Tai/The Philadelphia Inquirer
via AP, File)
That changed this year when Karnisovas made seven
trades before the deadline. The Bulls mostly loaded up on
second-round draft picks and didn't get any first-rounders in
return.
Among the players they acquired were Jaden Ivey
from Detroit, hoping the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA draft could
regain the form he showed before knee surgery. But the Bulls waived
him last week following anti-LGBTQ+ comments about religion he made
in videos posted on his Instagram account.
Ivey had been sidelined since Feb. 11 and appeared in just four
games for Chicago. His contract was set to expire at the end of the
season.
The 60-year-old Donovan, meanwhile, got a contract extension last
offseason. He could seek another NBA coaching job or return to the
college game if he doesn’t remain in Chicago. If he stays, the Bulls
could give him a bigger say in basketball operations while remaining
their coach.
Donovan has consistently said he still has a passion for coaching,
is committed finishing the season and will then discuss the
direction of the franchise with management and ownership. He did it
again prior to the Bulls' win over Phoenix on Sunday.
“I love the organization,” he said. “I love the relationship with
Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and the relationship with the front
office. All those things have been great, the players have been
great.”
Donovan has a 467-411 record in 11 seasons as an NBA head coach. He
was arguably the top candidate on the market when the Bulls hired
him in September 2020 to replace the fired Jim Boylen following a
five-year run in Oklahoma City. He led the Thunder to a 243-157
record and playoff appearances each season while working with stars
such as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Chris Paul.
Donovan previously coached for 19 seasons at the University of
Florida and won back-to-back NCAA titles. He was inducted into the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
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