Chicago Bulls: Karnisovas and Boylen have not met face-to-face

It might not be the best sign for the future of head coach Jim Boylen with the Chicago Bulls that he has yet to meet face-to-face with the new lead exec.

As the days move along, it feels like the writing is clearly on the wall for the future of Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen. The Bulls now enter the 2020 offseason with the top front office executives largely reshuffled, and now the attention will shift to the 15-man roster and the coaching staff.

The first major move that the Reinsdorfs made to rejuvenate the rebuild was to hire the former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas to replace John Paxson as the lead voice in the front office. The official title for Karnisovas with the Bulls will be executive vice president of basketball operations.

Then, Karnisovas made a significant hire to replace former general manager Gar Forman with the ex-Philadelphia 76ers vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley. He also made other significant front office hires including JJ Polk and Pat Connelly.

Moreover, what Karnisovas and Eversley likely have to figure out next is what to do with Boylen and the rest of the current Bulls coaching staff on hand. All indications point to Karnisovas taking his time with the coaching situation, as already mentioned, there is writing on the wall of what Boylen’s future in the Windy City will be.

According to a report from K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago on June 8, Karnisovas has yet to meet face-to-face with Boylen since being hired as the Bulls executive VP of basketball operations. That likely is not a good sign of what’s to come for Boylen.

Here’s more on what that piece from NBC Sports Chicago had to say on the matter.

"Arturas Karnisovas still has not met in person with head coach Jim Boylen. And that’s something he would like to do before going public with any decisions.Boylen’s future is the biggest issue hanging over the Bulls, who were left out when the NBA’s Board of Governors approved a 22-team format to restart the pandemic-interrupted season next month in Orlando. Chicago has missed the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, a tough stretch for a franchise whose dominance in the 1990s was chronicled in the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance.”The Bulls overhauled their front office when they hired Karnisovas as executive vice president of basketball operations in April and Marc Eversley as general manager a few weeks later.Boylen remains on the job. But for how much longer?“I haven’t met face to face yet,” Karnisovas said during a conference call. “There haven’t been any practices. There haven’t been any games since I became a part of this organization. I really take pride in my relationships that I cultivate with coaching staffs, my basketball operations staffs. I haven’t seen them. I’m looking forward to it.”"

The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 regular season with a record of 22-43 through 65 games. They didn’t come too close to getting a spot in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference prior to the hiatus. Thus they are not participating in the NBA’s 22-team restart plan at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, starting late next month.

Given that, the frustration from the fans has to continue to mount with Boylen still at the helm. Boylen led the Bulls to a record of 39-84 in the last two seasons. He was the interim that stepped in for the departed former head coach Fred Hoiberg after the first 24 games of the 2018-19 regular season.

Maybe the biggest decision that Karnisovas has to make next as the new lead executive in the Bulls front office is the head coach. Boylen is likely not the long-term answer the Bulls need for this rebuild, so why wait much longer to make the move to conduct a full on coaching search to replace him?