By the end of the 2024-25 regular season, we could start to see traces of the new Bulls, or at least the one that Arturas Karnisovas wants for the franchise. After their recent play-in elimination, the executive has asked everyone around to trust the process, as the squad has been growing day by day.
After Wednesday’s defeat, he had a request for their followers in Chicago. “I’m asking for fans’ patience,” he said after their season-ending loss to Miami. “Because we’re in the first year of that transition. I thought the way we finished the year showed some promise. It’s hard to win games in this league.”
In the past five campaigns, the Illinois club has only had one postseason appearance with Karnisovas as the vice president of basketball operations. This time around, they went 39-43 for a second-consecutive year, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference, but failing to overcome the Heat.
Despite their poor play-in contest, the Bulls were coming off a 15-5 run, which Arturas believes were the true face of his team. “It’s hard to win games in this league and to finish 15-5. Yeah, it’s not a victory lap, but I think there’s some positives,” Karnisovas expressed in his end-of-season media conference.
The executive then added what is next for the club: “And I think we’ve got to keep on building on this group by adding another player in the lottery, by going to free agency and adding another piece.”
Chciago had already done some big changes this past year, trading out Alex Caruso to Oklahoma and DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento in the summer, plus Zach LaVine just days before February’s deadline. Also, rookie Matas Buzelis’ proved to be another positive for the franchise.
“I think there is a plan,” Karnisovas continued. “I think that we’re always going to be looking at how to improve this roster by adding a player or a high caliber player. At the same time, I would not put any limitations on this roster or on the way Coby has been playing, or the way Josh has been playing.”
