Chicago Bulls: Could Pacers GM Chad Buchanan land in Windy City?

There looks to be some level of traction with the Chicago Bulls to pursue Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan for the same role.

The search does appear to be fully on for the Chicago Bulls to find their next general manager if Gar Forman is either out the door or reassigned to a different role come the 2020 offseason. An early name that emerged in that search was well-known and respected Chicago agent Mark Bartelstein. But Bartelstein can still be a name added to the Bulls front office if he meshes well with the Reinsdorfs.

According to a report from Bulls reporter K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the Bulls are considering the Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan as a candidate for the same role in their front office.

Here’s a look into what NBC Sports Chicago had to say on the candidacy of Buchanan for the Bulls general manager job.

"The Bulls are planning changes to their management structure this offseason and have spent weeks gathering input on potential additions for what one source described as “an empowered presence.”And while a team source insisted the process is in the early stages, multiple league sources indicated one name is gaining momentum—Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan. In fact,  one source described Buchanan as “a top target.”The Pacers hired Buchanan, 46, when they promoted Kevin Pritchard to president of basketball operations in 2017. Buchanan arrived from Charlotte, where he spent three seasons with Michael Jordan’s Hornets as assistant general manager under Rich Cho. Previously, he spent 10 seasons with the Trail Blazers, where he also worked closely with Pritchard."

Buchanan would be coming from a much more functional organization that found a lot more success in the Central Division of late compared to the Bulls. He’s made the most of his opportunity with the Pacers, as they were one of the more consistent playoff teams in the Eastern Conference over the course of the past decade.

This almost doesn’t sound like the Bulls to hire a quality candidate to add to their front office staffing instead of keeping around Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson. Buchanan is a general manager that helped moved the Pacers into the modern age, a task that the Bulls are struggling with right now.

While the Bulls are doing modern basketball things like shooting more threes and trying to run faster in transition, they just can’t figure how to make it work with their personnel at hand. Maybe a new voice in the front office like Buchanan could accomplish this mission.

Buchanan tended to build up impressive parts of rosters wherever he landed in the NBA. His tenure as general manager with the Trail Blazers helped them get the core that encompasses shooting guard CJ McCollum and point guard Damian Lillard.

After his time with the Blazers was over, he had a fairly successful stint with the Charlotte Hornets. He helped the development of star point guard (now with the Boston Celtics) Kemba Walker.

The Bulls need to make a lot of changes this offseason to overhaul the front office at hand. Hopefully they don’t keep GarPax at all, since a true culture change is needed within this organization. If nothing else, at least a fresh face could move on from the Bulls head coach Jim Boylen.