There aren’t a whole lot of Bulls rumors concerning the front office that looked to play out during the regular season. But that narrative did shift a bit when the Portland Trail Blazers parted ways with their decade-long general manager and president of basketball operations Neil Olshey in the past week.
One of the names tossed around in connection with the newly vacant general manager role with the Trail Blazers this week is the second-year Bulls’ general manager Marc Eversley. This would obviously be bad news for the Bulls considering the impact that Eversley had to build out this current roster that is contending in the Eastern Conference early this season.
The first reports of who the Blazers could be going after following the departure of Olshey came from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes specifically mentioned Eversley and New York Knicks general manager Scott Perry after the departure of Olshey.
Yahoo Sources: With the Portland Trail Blazers firing general manager Neil Olshey, two candidates expected to receive strong consideration are Chicago Bulls GM Marc Eversley and New York Knicks GM Scott Perry. https://t.co/cfQvsp4qiU
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 3, 2021
Bulls rumors showing that Marc Eversley might not be interesting in joining the Trail Blazers
Yet, there are signs that Eversley won’t give too much consideration to the Blazers job without some certainties in place. According to a report from Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic on Dec. 7 (paid content), Eversley likely wouldn’t leave his post with the Bulls’ front office right now unless there is a juicy offer from the Blazers that also ensured full control of the roster decision-making.
That is good news for the Bulls depending on how badly the Blazers want Eversley. It sounds like there isn’t really a great shot for Portland’s management/ownership to make this happen unless they really throw the bag and a lot of control over the decision-making to Eversley.
Eversley and executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas have a good thing going right now in Chicago. Following a Dec. 6 win over the Denver Nuggets, the Bulls have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference standings at 17-8. The Bulls are currently only behind the Brooklyn Nets in the standings in the East.
Karnisovas and Eversley made some big moves since the trade deadline last season including adding the likes of star center Nikola Vucevic, shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan, and point guard Lonzo Ball, among others. This front office duo put the Bulls in a position to contend right away this season.