Chicago Bulls ownership could play a huge role in UNC’s head coach search

All eyes are on the North Carolina Tar Heels as they attempt to find their new head coach for the men’s basketball program. All eyes are also on the Chicago Bulls, who have had way more of an eventful 2026 than they likely bargained for. In the middle of all of this is Billy Donovan, who will have to choose between one of these teams, or he will choose to just do something else altogether. Things got really interesting for the Bulls, though, and it could play a huge role in how things shake out for UNC.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Bulls President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf finally put their front office on notice. For those who aren’t familiar with how the Reinsdorfs operate, the family treats the Bulls like a cash cow rather than a competitive franchise, and they are very slow to make any kind of noticeable changes to the front office unless their financials start to suffer. That is why it is notable that in Cowley’s report he stated that back in January the Reinsdorfs told Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas to “pick a lane” when it came to what the actual long-term plan for the team was.

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To this point of his Bulls tenure, Karnisovas has been perfectly fine getting into the Play-In Tournament every year, but his tone shifted after getting called out by ownership. Karnisovas proceeded to make a lot of moves before the trade deadline, but aside from adding recently exiled former Piston Jaden Ivey, most of the moves involved picking up expiring contracts in efforts to clear up cap space. For what, though? That is the question, and having to ask the question is the problem.

Because the Bulls are now in a predicament, and ownership is not convinced that Arturas Karnisovas or general manager Marc Eversley can fix it. Here is what Cowley stated in his report:

“Up to that point, the mentality from the Reinsdorfs was very hands off. In their eyes it was Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley who made the mess, and it was on them to fix it.

Less than three months later the stakes have changed.

Now, ownership…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/chicago-bulls-ownership-could-play-150000541.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-06 15:00:00

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