Arturas Karnisovas has been actively pursuing roster changes this summer, but key personnel in the Bulls’ front office, including him, need not worry about job security.
According to a source Wednesday, the Bulls were close to finalizing a contract extension for coach Billy Donovan and have been in discussions since the regular season ended.
So what’s the holdup? The source speculated that it was always going to happen, but Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley needed to get their own extensions first, and that has happened.
The belief is that Karnisovas’ deal had been done for quite some time, not that he sounded worried about it in April.
“We have a very good relationship with Jerry and Michael [Reinsdorf],” Karnisovas said when discussing his job security.
“We take pride, especially in this building, in everybody being on the same page. It’s very hard to accomplish, but that’s how it is in this building between the ownership, front office, coaching staff, performance staff, so they have always been very supportive of my decisions, my thoughts, about this direction.”
The urgency to get Donovan’s deal done has nothing to do with the Knicks asking for permission to speak with him about their coaching vacancy after they canned Tom Thibodeau.
Several sources indicated that Donovan had no interest in leaving the Bulls and told his bosses that when New York came calling.
Karnisovas, who has been the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations since 2020, always has been open with Donovan, allowing him to have a say in many decisions concerning the team and the roster.
On the surface, Donovan, who was born and raised on Long Island, would be a great fit for the Knicks, who lost to the Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals. While media reports of Thibodeau’s dismissal have included his players turning on him, those in NBA coaching circles know the real story and how much dysfunction was actually behind the firing.
Donovan wanted no part of that.
This will be the second time Donovan, who had one year left on his deal, has been given an extension.
The last time, however, Bulls ownership decided not to make it public. There were no indications if that would be the case this time. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf never makes front-office extensions public.
Karnisovas had a strong selling point for his own extension, considering he has set the stage for what could be another roster overhaul next summer when six players come off the books.
