The message from Bulls ownership to executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is a simple one: Fix it.
Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley got the organization into this mess of mediocrity, and it’s on them to get it out.
According to Karnisovas, he will have the financial backing of the Reinsdorfs to do that.
In his news conference Thursday after the NBA Draft, Karnisovas again insisted the goal was to bring back unrestricted free-agent center Nikola Vucevic, to sign guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu to contract extensions and to add shooters in free agency.
It’s a great wish list, but it’s one that will come at a cost. In all likelihood, the Bulls would have to enter luxury-tax territory, which has been a land they purposely have avoided visiting in the past.
‘‘Jerry and Michael [Reinsdorf] have been always open with me to go into luxury tax if our team is competitive — you know, top four, top six in the East,’’ Karnisovas said. ‘‘If there are players in free agency that can improve our team and we’re competitive, we’ll retain our free agents.’’
But define ‘‘competitive.’’
If it means going 14-9 after the All-Star break before being eliminated in the final play-in game by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Heat, Karnisovas has a strong case to make to his bosses. The Bulls were one of the better teams in the conference down the stretch, including on defense, where they were a top-five team.
They also played the powerhouses in the conference well all season, which only helps that argument.
But looking at the 2022-23 season as a whole, the Bulls were inconsistent, stars DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine looked to have lost the synergy they had in their first season together and the development of the younger players was slow.
Still, the Bulls are negotiating what a source indicated was a three-year deal for Vucevic. If they can get him back in the mix, they will have a better idea of what the books will look like for the start of free agency.
‘‘It’s a work in progress,’’ Karnisovas said of the negotiations with Vucevic. ‘‘We’re going to continue talking to him and his representation.’’
The condition of point guard Lonzo Ball, however, remains the elephant in the room. Karnisovas said Ball is off crutches but, as he indicated at the end of the season, still is expected to miss the 2023-24 campaign.
Privately, the Bulls know that Ball’s career is in doubt and that he might never play another game for them, but they aren’t about to come out and say it.
What Karnisovas did say was that the Bulls aren’t looking to do a waive-and-stretch with Ball’s contract right now and that applying for a disabled-player exception was still a wait-and-see.
So what does that mean at point guard? For now, very little.
If the Bulls pass on bringing back Patrick Beverley, White is the leading candidate to take the starting job. He proved to be a better decision-maker than he was in previous seasons and adds a three-point threat to the starting group.
Dosunmu struggled to make adjustments in his second season, especially with his decision-making, but the feeling is he would be a great backup with the work he has put in this summer.
Good thing the always-confident Karnisovas didn’t seem the least bit fazed by what lies in front of him, nor by the growing criticism from the Bulls’ fan base.
Asked what his message to the fans was in the wake of a relatively quiet draft night, Karnisovas replied, ‘‘They will have to wait until free agency to see what we look like after that.’’
