Over the last three seasons, Arturas Karnisovas has mostly been known for what he hasn’t done for the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls haven’t made a significant trade since 2021, when Karnisovas made a flurry of moves trying to reset their roster around Zach LaVine.
Most of the trades Karnisovas made were unmitigated disasters for the Bulls and are the primary reason they are stuck in NBA purgatory with no easy way out.
Arturas Karnisovas’ trades for the Chicago Bulls
Karnisovas has made just six trades since taking over as president of the Chicago Bulls and four of them have blown up in his face with one pending.
The Vucevic disaster
Karnisovas started things off by trading Wendell Carter Jr, Otto Porter Jr and two first-round picks to the Orlando Magic in a move that pushed the Magic to the next level and pushed the Bulls into irrelevancy.
This trade looked like a horrible, win-now overpay for the Bulls at the time that just kept getting worse. One of those picks turned into Franz Wagner, a likely future All-Star and one of the best young players in the game. Even Wendell Carter Jr is arguably better than Vucevic at this point, so the Bulls could have more depth and talent from guys making way less than Vucevic.
GMs have lost their jobs over trades that were better than this one, especially considering it has not led to any winning for the Bulls.
The Gafford Gaff
The Bulls traded Chandler Hutchison, Daniel Gafford and Luke Kornet in a move that brought them Troy Brown Jr and Daniel Thies.
You might be able to defend this one if either Troy Brown Jr or Daniel Thies were still on the Bulls (they’re not) or if Gafford hadn’t gone onto be a key part of a Finals team (he did), providing the exact rim protection and high efficiency the Bulls are missing.
This looked like a marginal trade at the time, but the Bulls once again gave up the best player and got burned for it.
The Lonzo Ball deal
Ball was a sign-and-trade from New Orleans who the Bulls didn’t have to give up much to get, so it looked like a big win for Chicago, especially when the Bulls started winning with Ball.
But that didn’t last, as Ball got hurt and has missed the last 2.5 seasons. He says he’ll be back at the start of the next one, but no one is betting on that happening.
It wasn’t like this came out of nowhere either, as Ball was often injured leading up to the trade which is the main reason NOLA had no interest in bringing him back.
Ball had missed a ton of games in LA and New Orleans, so giving him a team-friendly extension with incentives and a team option would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, Ball got a deal with a disastrous player option at the end of it (the Karnisovas special) that he exercised this offseason, meaning the Bulls will likely be paying Ball upwards of $21 million to sit on the bench for the third straight year. What a deal!
This trade was some of his better work, but still blew up in his face after Ball predictably got injured.
The DeRozan steal
Another sign-and-trade and another nice deal for Karnisovas, who essentially gave up one first-round pick to get DeRozan.
DeRozan has been great for Chicago, but they still haven’t won anything, and like with Ball, Karnisovas could undo all of the good with the next contract for DeRozan, who reportedly wants more than the two years the Bulls want to give.
This one worked out for Chicago. For now.
Giving away a star for nothing
The worst trade Karnisovas made was when he dealt Lauri Markkanen to the Cavs in a three-team deal that netted them nothing.
Derrick Jones Jr now starts for the Mavs in the Finals (if only the Bulls had just kept Jones Jr and Gafford, two Finals starters!) and the pick the Bulls are owed from Portland is so protected that it may never convey.
Since that flurry of deals, the Bulls have made just one low-level trade for Julian Phillips while they continue to be mired in mediocrity.
Most of the players Karnisovas traded for are hurt or not even on the roster. The ones who remain are mostly guys the Bulls would have to pay to give away.
It’s safe to say that trades have not been Karnisovas’ strength and are one of the big reasons the Bulls are where they are.