Bulls VP: Team in transition, not OK being in middle

CHICAGO -- Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas acknowledged the team is "in a transitional phase," and although he did not make any additional moves after trading Zach LaVine earlier this week, he pledged to continue reshaping the roster in the coming months.

"There's more to come," Karnisovas said at a news conference after Thursday's trade deadline. "We're committing to building a sustainable, competitive team. We're not OK with being in the middle. Curating a team that competes at the high level and can compete for a championship has been our goal."

In Karnisovas' first in-season trade in more than three years, the Bulls sent LaVine to Sacramento as part of a three-team deal on Sunday and netted back three role players and control of their 2025 first-round draft pick, which had been owned by San Antonio (top-10 protected). But that was their lone transaction before the deadline.

The Bulls were engaged in a deal for Nikola Vucevic with the Warriors over the past few days, sources told ESPN, but Chicago never received a concrete offer before the deadline once Golden State completed the deal for Jimmy Butler on Wednesday night. Vucevic, 34, is in the middle of a career shooting season, posting a career-high 54.6% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, and is averaging 19.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He will be in the final season of his contract in 2025-26.

The Bulls also engaged in trade talks for guard Coby White, sources said, as Chicago looked to break up its logjam in the backcourt with six guards on the roster. White, Josh Giddey, Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball were holdovers on the roster, and the team acquired guards Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones in the deal for LaVine.

Although Chicago stood pat on any additional moves, the team believes it laid the groundwork for a trade in the offseason, sources said. On Thursday, Karnisovas acknowledged it can be a long process to begin remaking the team, but he touted the Bulls controlling of all of their draft picks going forward along with the fact they have already started building a roster with young players he believes have upside.

"Three and a half years ago, we tried to put that team together. That came out pretty well, but we skipped steps and tried to accelerate the process," Karnisovas said. "Right now we have an opportunity here to play slower and evaluate our young guys."

The Bulls are 22-30 and the No.10 seed in the Eastern Conference, tied in the loss column but leading the No. 11 Philadelphia 76ers by one game in the standings.

Yet, as Karnisovas spoke about taking a step back, he also acknowledged he would like to see his team make the play-in tournament, calling it an achievable goal that would get his young players some experience. Chicago has lost in the play-in tournament in each of the past two seasons.

"We might get a high draft pick or we might be in the play-in, we might be in the playoffs," he said. "I think I was saying that if this young nucleus can get you to play in the playoffs, I think it's going to be growth in terms of your young players and development. That's worth it for me."

Despite dealing LaVine, the Bulls' best player, it was yet another acknowledgement by Karnisovas that the team does not plan to tank the season for draft position. The team further emphasized that point by signing the productive, albeit limited, Lonzo Ball to a contract extension.

After years of meandering in the standings and back-to-back losses in the play-in tournament, Bulls fans have been asking for their team to pick a direction. On Thursday, Karnisovas struggled to present a clear vision forward, but he offered a window into his thinking on rebuilding the team and how, without a superstar, he sees depth as the path to doing so.

"By getting our pick back and not to worry about where we're going to land this year, there's an opportunity during the draft to land another young player and consistently, obviously, look for opportunities to get a star player," Karnisovas said.

"In terms of moving forward, I think there's different structures that you can try to get to a championship. There's two or three star players and then a lot of role players or you can build it with nine, 10 very good players. And I think now we're leaning toward having a lot of solid, good players -- nine, 10 that can last through a season, because there's going to be injuries. I think more and more teams are doing that."