Some Chicago Bulls news for April 20, including VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas's vision (?) for the future and a lottery odds bump courtesy of the Miami Heat.
Karnisovas asks Bulls fans for patience, speaks on Giddey, White futures
"I’m asking fans for patience because we are in the first year of transition. I thought the way we finished the year shows promise, to finish 15-5. It’s not a victory lap, but there are positives and we have to keep on building on this group by adding another player in the lottery, going to free agency and adding another piece."
That's a snippet of what Chicago Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas had to say after his team was embarrassed at the hands of the Miami Heat to end another season in the Play-In Tournament and short of the playoffs.
There's truth in that statement, but nothing that will assuage Bulls fans' concerns and certainly nothing that will give them more patience after a decade of mediocrity.
The most pressing concern Karnisovas has this offseason is the future of point guard Josh Giddey. The Aussie is still 22 years old, has excellent positional size at 6-foot-8 and proved after the 2025 All-Star break that he turned a corner as a scorer and shooter.
Giddey averaged 22.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 9.5 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and, critically, 47.1 percent from three in the team's last 20 games.
Karnisovas stated his desire to keep his young floor general around on a long-term deal, though it will be an expensive one. He also spoke about locking up Giddey's backcourt mate, Coby White, who averaged 27.7 points in March to earn back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors and the Player of the Month Award.
The question becomes: Are Giddey and White, along with promising rookie Matas Buzelis, good enough to move the Bulls from mediocrity to contender?
Chicago gets lottery bump after Heat make playoffs
Miami sent the Bulls home without a playoff spot for the third straight season, but at least something good came out of it ... right?
With the Heat's win over the Atlanta Hawks and position as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Bulls jumped from 13th in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery standings to a tie for 11th. Chicago's final amount of ping-pong balls will be determined through a random drawing, as their final record of 39-43 was identical to the Dallas Mavericks'.
It's not a game-changer as the Bulls will have a 1.8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick if they finish 11th versus a 1.7 percent chance if they finish 12th, but good news is good news at this point.