ESPN’s Jamal Collier published a wide-ranging profile column encompassing a post-mortem of the underwhelming Arturas Karnisovas-led Chicago Bulls front office, a historical reminder of Bulls franchise's ineptitude since 1998, and initial observations of the Bulls’ current front office, led by executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham.
I wrote about the Chicago Bulls’ latest rebuild. And what it’s going to take inside the organization to turn a dormant franchise around: https://t.co/N4ZxyU2XXW pic.twitter.com/wCVHZgXcuc
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) July 14, 2026
The common denominator in all of these chapters of the Bulls franchise history is the Reinsdorf family ownership of the Chicago Bulls, principally represented daily by Bulls President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf.
The ultimate franchise success or failure the Bulls will incur over the life of the Graham-led Bulls front office regime is heavily dependent on how much influence Reinsdorf will choose to exert over his front office’s decisions and processes, a key recurring theme within Collier’s reporting.
"Everyone thinks you're handcuffed and have bad ownership," an executive with a rival team told ESPN. "Jamal Collier
Collier illustrated a sharp comparison of the similarities in the advent of the Karnisovas Bulls front office regime in 2020, relative to the 2026 beginnings of the Graham Bulls front office, in the hiring of a front office executive with a positive reputation across the league, in addition to an esteemed head coach hire and the fourth pick in the NBA Draft.
Reinsdorf’s judgment in the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas proved to be a catalyst for the organizational malaise that arrested the Bulls for the next six years, as Collier reported in intimate detail the internal conflicts between Karnisovas and, by proxy, his lieutenant Marc Eversley, and Karnisovas' staff on who the Bulls should have selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Karnisovas and Eversley infamously vetoed staff recommendations to select eventual two-time All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, in favor of forward Patrick Williams, who is largely considered a negative asset due to the quixotic decision to extend Williams to a five-year $90 million second Bulls contract.
Lessons for Reinsdorf to Learn from Collier’s reporting
If the goal truly is to turn around the on-court fortunes of the Chicago Bulls via the hiring of Bryson Graham to run the Bulls’ front office, then Michael Reinsdorf must adapt his ownership personality to the modern NBA.
The point is moot now because of anti-taking policies that will take effect in the NBA starting in the 2026-27 NBA season.
Still, Reinsdorf’s reticence to allow his franchise to execute an advantageous rebuild via tanking over the last six seasons is a prime example of irrational ownership engaging in self-defeating decision-making to the detriment of the Bulls' competitive standing across the NBA.
More relevant and on the watch of Reinsdorf’s current front office is the indefensible selling of the Bulls' entire selection of 2026 NBA second-round draft picks for cash at the beginning of the rebuild.
Second-round picks are not the end-all, be-all of basketball decisions, yet the choice the Bulls made on the second night of the 2026 NBA draft is not aging well, as the Bulls' summer league roster looks painful in terms of ball-handling.
One final lesson that Reinsdorf must learn at some point is to moderate the influence John Paxson has over the future of the Bulls because, in many ways, the biggest obstacle to the Bulls becoming a relevant NBA franchise is the persistent staring in the rearview mirror of Bulls history instead of adapting to present-day circumstances of the NBA’s competitive landscape.
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