The Bulls front office presser was underwhelming

Photo Courtesy of the NBA.

For the first time all season, Artūras Karnišovas, the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations, suited up and spoke to the press Monday.

It would be nice to have an intermediary point in between the Boston Celtics’ Danny Ainge unnecessarily speaking out every week and Karnišovas barely speaking.

While Karnišovas spoke about his relationship with coach Billy Donovan, the trade deadline and Zach LaVine, he didn't say anything exciting or unexpected.

This press conference was merely an effort to get Karnišovas in front of the media going into the All-Star break.

Karnišovas on the March 25th trade deadline:

"I never look at player as trade commodities. Right now, we’re focused on winning games, because the separation between fourth and 10th place is a game-and-a-half. So this group is doing pretty well. I think now 12 or 13 are in (the playoff mix) in the East. So I just think teams are going to try to improve, and there’s not going to be a lot of sellers. So I think we’re just going to focus on our guys and how to get them better.”

While the lack of sellers is a bit concerning, I also respect that Karnišovas is relationship-oriented and wants to focus on building the culture around the players that are currently on the team.

He has always emphasized and focused on player development, just like coach Donovan. So, he simply reiterated that he wants to focus on the talent the team has now. No juicy news from him as we approach the trade deadline -- not that it was even expected.

Karnišovas will have to make the difficult decision of figuring out what to do with many potential trade chips. Veteran guard Tomas Satoransky could help a playoff contender if the Bulls choose to trade him. Veteran forward Thad Young's has had a great season and his trade value is only going up. He would also be great help to any championship contender.

Otto Porter Jr.'s injury history may make him less attractive to other teams, so it might be difficult for the Bulls to trade him.

The highlight of this conference was when Karnišovas commented on whether or not Zach LaVine is worthy of the franchise player title.

Back on Dec. 1, 2020, Karnisovas shared his thoughts on LaVine, an exceptional player who's never actually competed in the playoffs.

"He's been an unbelievable individual player," Karnisovas said. "He has a skillset that is hard to find in our league. We just have to put it in a way that is going to be in a team setting."

Now, his attitude has changed towards LaVine, who has led his team to a possible low playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Karnišovas on LaVine:

“He’s deserving right now of his accolades and made an All-Star game and we are really proud of him. We’re constantly in games because of his play, so he’s been establishing himself as a leader of this team and we’ve improved dramatically because he is impacting winning. So that’s why besides his numbers of 29 (points), 5 (rebounds) and 5 (assists), which are amazing, he’s also impacting winning. So that’s why this team is fighting for a playoff spot.”

This statement from Karnišovas shows that he believes LaVine is an impact player who contributes to a winning program. As LaVine approaches unrestricted free agency in 2022, the Bulls should try to renegotiate his contract and with Karnišovas citing LaVine's leadership and impact on winning is a good step towards that.

Everything is still all talk now, so we just have to wait to see what actions follow through.

This presser didn't provide any clear insight on what the Bulls front office plans to do going forward, but the Bulls have exceeded expectations so far this season.

So, I’ll give Karnišovas a pass for now and credit him for making some great moves like hiring Donovan to replace Jim Boylen (thank God), drafting Patrick Williams and signing Garrett Temple – who the Bulls apparently rejected a trade offer for.