The Chicago Bulls organization needs to make serious changes after losing in the Play-In Tournament three seasons in a row. The Bulls made a foolish and shortsighted choice to make a hard push to make the Play-In Tournament after trading Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings at the trade deadline in February.
The Bulls appeared to make significant progress in the backcourt with Josh Giddey and Coby White through March and in the early part of April. However, Chicago wasn’t competitive on Wednesday night when it mattered, and their season ended in a 109-90 loss to the Miami Heat in front of 21,380 fans at the United Center.
During his end-of-season press conference this week, executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas congratulated the team for taking a step forward this season, even though it ended the same way the Bulls saw their seasons end in 2023 and 2024. Karnisovas praised head coach Billy Donovan for his work with the team, but canned one member of the staff.
The Chicago Bulls fired a coach
Per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, players are upset that Karnisovas fired director of player development/shooting coach Peter Patton after the loss to Miami.
“The decision made the Bulls core group of players upset,” Cowley wrote. “One player wrote they were ‘beyond (expletive).’”
“Coach Pete was the real deal . . . [messed] up,” one player said.
Bulls players praised Patton throughout the season.
Patton has worked with the Bulls since 2023. He had stops as the shooting coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016-2018 and the Dallas Mavericks from 2018-2023.
Bulls players liked Peter Patton
Per the report, it appears Karnisovas fired Patton because he didn’t like the opinions the coach offered. It follows a deeper pattern of problems going on with the staff.
“According to a source, Patton liked to shoot from the hip and speak his mind when asked,” Cowley wrote. “The feeling is that Karnisovas often asks for opinions, but “they have to fit his,” the source said. If someone’s ideas conflict with his own roster-building or player development, there’s a warning to mute it or there could be consequences.
“The source said it’s the reason why there has been such a confusing list of fired personnel in the last few years alone. The handling of assistant coach Mo Cheeks, also well-liked by the players, ended in bizarre fashion. Then there was assistant coach Chris Fleming, director of performance health Chip Schaefer, trainer Arnold Lee and, less than a few months ago, vice president of basketball strategy and analytics Steve Weinman.”
While the Bulls need to make changes in the organization, the problem with the fired personnel appears to be less with job production and more with not kissing Karnisovas’ butt.
Karnisovas’ butt hasn’t gotten the Bulls close to contending in the playoffs since he took over in 2020. His (and owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s) vision is the main problem.
