Stagnation in the NBA is a grave cause for concern. The Chicago Bulls have epitomized this concern for most of this decade. Since the Vice President of Basketball Operations, Arturas Karnisovas, took over in 2020, the Bulls have won one playoff game and surpassed 40 victories just once.
Despite the jarring lack of success, Chicago has only drafted in the first round three times in the last five drafts. Moreover, the Bulls have selected merely five players since 2020. Those players are Patrick Williams (4th) and Marko Simonovic (44th) in 2020, Ayo Dosunmu (38th) in 2021, Dalen Terry (18th) in 2022, and Matas Buzelis (11th) in 2024.
Bulls' draft picks have failed to make much of an impact in recent seasons
The Karnisovas-led regime has woefully underperformed when building through the draft. Of the five players above, two are legitimate, long-term keepers, Dosunmu and Buzelis. Williams has disappointed time and time again since being selected fourth overall in 2020, only to regress in 2025 after signing a five-year, $90 million pact in the offseason.
Karnisovas's second-round pick in 2020, Simonovic, came stateside in 2021. In two years with Chicago, the 6-foot-11 big man appeared in 16 contests and scored 23 points for the Bulls. In Karnisovas's next opportunity to draft in the first round, he hastily selected Arizona product Dalen Terry ahead of several high-ceiling prospects and a few with plug-and-play potential.
Two-and-a-half seasons and 146 games later, Terry's career averages are 3.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. The 6-foot-7 guard is a career 44.6 percent shooter who has converted only 27.8 percent of the 158 three-pointers he's attempted. After seeing consistent minutes to begin the season, the former first-rounder has been an end-of-the-bench player since the new year.
An unbeknownst amount of pressure was placed on Terry from the moment he was drafted. Although the former Wildcat was a post-lottery selection, Chicago drafted Terry, fully aware that they would be without a first and second-round selection a year later, in 2023. The Bulls' 2023 second-rounder was included in a 2019 trade involving Otto Porter Jr., while their 2023 first-rounder was sent to the Orlando Magic in 2021 to acquire Nikola Vucevic.
The next opportunity Karnisovas had to select a difference-maker in the draft came in 2024. The jury is certainly still out on the 20-year-old Buzelis. His season-long averages leave much to be desired. Buzelis is averaging only 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor. However, he has impressed since assuming a larger role in Billy Donovan's rotation. Since seeing an uptick in minutes on January 27, Buzelis has averaged 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks while converting 61.0 percent of his field goals and 44.1 percent of his triples.
Even if Buzelis is a hit, Karnisovas's draft record is still below par. Hitting on two players in five seasons is not an indicator of increased job security. Furthermore, the VP of Basketball Operations has failed to acquire draft picks throughout his tenure in the Windy City.
With more chances at selecting talent comes a greater success rate. Karnisovas hasn't given himself much margin for error, considering the Bulls' lack of draft capital. A contrasting example is that of the Central Division rival Indiana Pacers. Chicago and Indiana have shared similar win-loss totals since 2020.
Nonetheless, the Pacers have made 15 draft picks during the same timeframe. Indiana's success rate isn't all that high. Still, Indiana has unearthed numerous quality players from the draft since 2020 while also focusing on win-now moves, i.e., trading for Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. There's no valid argument that aggressive moves can only be geared toward the draft, free agency, or the trade mill. Karnisovas has all three methods of player acquisition at his disposal to build a competent roster. Unfortunately, he's failed to maximize the draft.