Advanced metric indicates Bulls GM among the worst in the NBA
If you’ve engaged with any Chicago Bulls fan pages, forums, or even been reading Pippen Ain’t Easy over the past few months, you’re probably well aware by now that the public sentiment on general manager Arturas Karnisovas is… not very positive. But if you’re one of the many disapproving of this front office’s management style, you may now have a reputable source to point toward in online debates.
That’s because Yahoo constructed a model with a clear inspiration taken from baseball in order to calculate the ‘batting average’ of each general manager, so to speak. By separating each GM’s hits from their misses and differentiating between small moves from the smash hits, this model ranked every team according to how consistently each manager pulls off good moves.
Here’s how the entire list shook out, with Arturas Karnisovas coming in at an absolutely disgraceful 23rd. Just barely edging out the Hornets and Mavericks, Karnisovas has truly earned himself a position among the bottom of the barrel in the eyes of this model.
- Danny Ainge, Jazz
- Masai Ujiri, Raptors
- Brian Wright, Spurs
- James Jones, Suns
- Kevin Pritchard, Pacers
- Pat Riley, Heat
- Troy Weaver, Pistons
- Koby Altman, Cavaliers
- Brad Stevens , Celtics
- Zach Kleiman, Grizzlies
- David Griffin, Pelicans
- Sam Presti, Thunder
- Daryl Morey, 76ers
- Tim Connelly, Timberwolves
- Rob Pelinka, Lakers
- Monte McNair, Kings
- Lawrence Frank, Clippers
- Rafael Stone, Rockets
- Jon Horst, Bucks
- Sean Marks, Nets
- Jeff Weltman, Magic
- Leon Rose, Knicks
- Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls
- Mitch Kupchak, Hornets
- Nico Harrison, Mavericks
Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas has left a negative impression in the eyes of fans and the media alike.
Struggling to keep things together in the absence of Lonzo Ball, I can understand why this model wasn’t too kind to Karnisovas and Co. Despite being built to win now, this team has yet to accomplish anything, unless a single playoff victory in three years is something you believe is worth getting excited over.
When we separate Karnisovas’ best moves from his worst, I think it becomes very telling how his mistakes have dug a deep hole for this team that not even his good moves could compensate for. Yahoo categorized AKME’s best moves as those that reached “second base” or higher, while the worst moves were ones where the front office essentially “struck out”.
Best Moves
- Signing Alex Caruso as a free agent in 2021
- Drafting Ayo Dosunmu 38th overall in 2021
Worst Moves
- Trading for Nikola Vucevic in 2021
- Trading away Lauri Markkanen in 2021
- Signing Lonzo Ball in 2021
Admittedly, this may not be the best model to use, since it almost entirely depends on the arbitrary opinions of the author over what constitutes a ‘hit’ and what does not. That being said, he does seem on the money here, as AKME’s few redeeming moves have hardly been enough to offset the damage they’ve done with their three trades listed above.
This train of thought extends to the entire list in general, as well. Although this system is indeed pretty faulty and shouldn’t be used as concrete evidence to justify any opinions, I don’t have any real qualms with the order he ranked every general manager. So maybe using baseball stats to judge a basketball team isn’t a great idea; but at this point, letting Karnisovas continue to mismanage the Bulls doesn’t seem like the best idea either.
Next. Ranking the 10 best sharpshooters in Bulls history. dark