Arturas Karnisovas Spoke For the First Time and Set the Bar High

It took a couple of the days for the Chicago Bulls to make it official. Finally on Monday, April 13th the team announced that Arturas Karnisovas, former GM of the Denver Nuggets would be their new Vice President of Basketball Operations. Essentially he will be running any and all things basketball-related. The draft? Free agency? Trades? The final decision rests with him. Already he's made significant waves.

Gar Forman was dismissed as GM. Karnisovas cited it simply being about "different philosophies." He's also added two new faces to the front office in J.J. Polk and Pat Connelly. More are expected to come. Yet fans still hadn't heard from the man himself. That finally ended when COO Michael Reinsdorf and the team released a press statement on the hiring. One where Karnisovas got to express his absolute pleasure at getting what he sees as a dream job.

A short time later the two men had a conference call with the Bulls media. Karnisovas didn't mince words. He stated clearly his job was to do one thing and one thing only in Chicago.

Arturas Karnisovas has two main goals to accomplish

He went on to say that his primary goal, for the time being, was to find a new GM to replace Forman. Karnisovas made it clear though. He had no intention of being one of those guys who sought a familiar face who had the same philosophies he did. His job was to find the best possible person to fill the role. Somebody who would complement the things he might not consider his own strengths. A wise move if this is indeed the case.

Then there is the matter of Jim Boylen. His status as head coach remains uncertain. Karnisovas hasn't made any commitments one way or the other on that front. However, this statement during his conference call rings rather loud.

The Bulls do seem to have a strong young core led by Zach Lavine, Coby White, and Lauri Markkanen. Yet things haven't progressed as hoped. Many blame Boylen for that. It's hardly a secret both Lavine and Markkanen are not fans of him. If Karnisovas recognizes that, then it's pretty much a given the head coach will join Forman on the unemployment line.