Chicago Bulls Artūras Karnišovas delivers honest evaluation after Play-In loss: 'Something doesn't work'
CHICAGO, Ill. - The winds of change are beginning to blow across the Advocate Center for the Chicago Bulls.
Bulls president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas the day after the Bulls were blown out by the Miami Heat 112-91.
"This group, something doesn't work," Karnišovas told reporters Saturday. "I've got to find ways to find a group that's going to make improvements because we've done that for a couple of years now."
The Heat didn't just beat the Bulls, they dismantled the visitors.
Two days after Chicago played complete team basketball against the Atlanta Hawks, it all fell apart in South Beach.
After that, Karnišovas said Saturday he'll plan to address the Bulls' roster needs through multiple available avenues: the draft, player trades and free agency.
What will not change is the coaching staff. Karnišovas did defend his head coach in Billy Donovan.
"I like what Billy has done here for the past four years. Billy is someone that you build the program with," Karnišovas said. "He is a very good coach and even a better human being. We established winning expectations, we defined a profile for the Bulls players and put an emphasis on player development. It is also on me to facilitate Billy with the resources he needs to build a team that can be successful consistently."
The Bulls finished the season 39-43, having missed the playoffs for the second year in a row.
In January, after the trade deadline, Karnišovas stood pat with the roster he had saying he wanted to see competitiveness from the team in the final few months of the season.
The competitiveness he saw wasn't enough.
"In this business, you win or you learn," Karnišovas said. ""While I can be happy with some growth and learning this year, I won't be satisfied until we bring a championship to the city of Chicago. That's what I was hired, that's why I'm here and my missions remain unchanged."
There were positive developments. Coby White emerged and could win Most Improved Player. Ayo Dosunmu developed further, too.
But it wasn't enough. Karnišovas stressed that Saturday.
Whatever happens first with the Bulls, be it a trade, draft or other moves, it'll happen this offseason.
"We aren’t here for the play-in," Karnišovas said. "We have to make changes to fix things. I take full responsibility for where we are right now."
Heat end the Bulls season in Play-In Tournament, beginning an offseason of uncertainty in Chicago
Chicago missed 14 of 15 shots in one stretch, while Miami had spans of 0 for 8 and 0 for 6. But the Heat had the two big runs — and now are back as the No. 8 seed, the one they rode all the way to the NBA Finals last season.