5 Most disastrous moves Arturas Karnisovas has made for the Chicago Bulls
The running joke around the Chicago Bulls the last several seasons is that Arturas Karnisovas has been asleep at the wheel.
The Bulls’ front office leader has done next to nothing over the last three seasons to improve the team and hasn’t made a significant trade since 2021.
He has made some great moves in his tenure, so credit must be given for drafting Ayo Dosunmu, signing Alex Caruso and trades that brought in DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball. While Ball hasn’t worked out for the Bulls and did have a history of injuries, it was a gamble worth taking, as they gave up next to nothing to get him.
He’s made some nice moves along the fringes, like signing Andre Drummond, but has also whiffed on several later draft picks and let guys like Derrick Jones Jr go for nothing.
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But any good has been undone by five moves that led the Chicago Bulls to where they are now, which is an aging, mediocre team with few ways to improve. Let’s look at them in order of damage caused to the team.
5 Most disastrous moves Arturas Karnisovas has made for the Chicago Bulls
#5: Drafting Patrick Williams 4th in the 2020 NBA Draft
This one wasn’t a franchise killer by any means, but the Bulls did miss a chance to add elite talent to their roster in 2020, instead taking Patrick Williams with the 4th pick in a move that many felt was a reach at the time.
The Bulls hadn’t picked in the top four since 2008, when they took Derrick Rose #1, and Karnisovas blew it with this pick. You can’t kill him for it too much, as the 2020 Draft was garbage, with certified busts and middling players littering the top-10.
But there were very good players to be had, including Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey, who went 12th and 21st. Hell, even Isaiah Stewart, who isn’t much more than a role player, has been better than Williams so far, so there was talent that could have helped the Bulls.
Now Williams is in a position to walk for nothing if the Bulls don’t meet his absurd contract demands. Missing on a top-4 pick is one way to stunt a franchise and the Bulls whiffed on a huge opportunity here.