Jerry Reinsdorf Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Notes: Ball, Future, Vucevic, Smith, Reinsdorf

October 18th, 2024 at 2:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball made his long-awaited return to the court on Wednesday and received a standing ovation from the United Center crowd when he checked in, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Wednesday’s preseason victory over Minnesota marked Ball’s first official NBA game since January 14, 2022 — nearly three years ago (33 months).

“Felt a lot better playing than watching,” Ball said after the game. “I couldn’t even put it into words how it felt being out there. … It was definitely a moment I’ll never forget.”

Ball, who has battled chronic left knee soreness and underwent three surgeries since his last game, made an immediate impact in his return, recording 10 points (on 4-of-6 shooting), one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in 15 minutes. He said he didn’t think about his knee “at all” during the game and he plans to suit up again in Friday’s preseason finale vs. Cleveland.

“My game is pretty simple,” Ball said, per Darnell Mayberry and Jenna West of The Athletic. “I know what I can do out there. It’s not too complicated. I’m going to go in, give good minutes and hopefully contribute to winning. All the instinctive plays, that’s not going to go anywhere. It’s more about the on-ball and getting over screens like I used to; getting that back. But off the ball, I feel comfortable.”

While it was a very encouraging return, Ball will be closely monitored throughout the season. He’ll likely be given regular rest days and will be on a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future.

“We have a good handle right now, but I think it’s going to change throughout the year,” Ball said, according to Collier. “Every day is going to be a different challenge we just have to overcome.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

If Ball can stay healthy and steadily increase his minutes, the former No. 2 overall pick could become a valuable trade target for a contending team, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times contends. Ball, who turns 27 years old later this month, is on an expiring $21.4MM contract, and the Bulls have a glut of guards on their roster, making his return somewhat awkward from a rotation standpoint, Cowley observes.
The Bulls have been playing at a much faster pace in the preseason compared to the past few seasons. Veteran center Nikola Vucevic isn’t known for his mobility, but he will remain in the starting lineup, with free agent addition Jalen Smith serving as his primary backup, Cowley writes for The Sun-Times. “We’ve done stuff in practice where we’ve mixed and matched teams,” head coach Billy Donovan said Wednesday. “We’ve moved guys around. We have done that. But I would envision Vooch starting and [Smith] backing him up. And then [Smith] gives us a little different dynamic in terms of the small-ball five.” Donovan added that the two big men could share the court together at times, as both are capable of stretching the floor.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday that Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling MLB’s White Sox and is in active discussions with a prospective ownership group. Would a potential White Sox sale impact the Bulls? According to Cowley, the answer is a resounding no — Reinsdorf and his son Michael view the Bulls as a long-term family investment that will continue to grow in value over time.

Central Notes: Bucks, Reinsdorf, Bulls, Holland

September 19th, 2024 at 9:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After shaking up their roster with the blockbuster Damian Lillard trade last fall and making two head coaching changes in less than a year, the Bucks are confident that a 2024 offseason defined by continuity will put them in a better position to contend for a championship in 2024/25, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Zach Lowe of ESPN is unconvinced, however, stating on Thursday’s episode of NBA Today (YouTube link) that “the questions outweigh the answers” in Milwaukee.

As Lowe outlines, Lillard turned 34 this summer and “rarely looked comfortable” last season, Khris Middleton has dealt with injuries the last couple seasons and underwent multiple ankle surgeries over the offseason, and defensive anchor Brook Lopez will turn 37 in the spring.

“This team is getting older and less athletic around Giannis (Antetokounmpo),” Lowe said. “They don’t have a lot of young guys in the pipeline. This is a right-now team that went 17-19 under Doc Rivers before the Giannis injury took them out of the playoffs. They just never found their footing, and they’ve got to find it fast in an Eastern Conference that has gotten better top to bottom in the playoff race.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Eric Nehm of The Athletic answers a series of Bucks-related questions in a mailbag, discussing the Antetokounmpo/Lillard pick-and-roll, expectations for the 2024/25 season, and the development (or lack thereof) of some of the team’s young players.
A feature on Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf from MLB writers Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic focuses primarily on the disastrous season that Reinsdorf’s other team – the Chicago White Sox – has endured in 2024. However, the story includes a couple notes on the Bulls, including the claim that Reinsdorf has told employees the White Sox winning is more important to him than the Bulls winning. According to Ghiroli and Rosenthal, the 88-year-old Reinsdorf has also said he’d advise his family to sell the White Sox but hang onto the Bulls after his death.
Can No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland earn a regular rotation spot for the Pistons as a rookie? Keith Langlois of Pistons.com explores that question, observing that it would help the 19-year-old’s case for minutes if he can develop a more reliable outside shot. As Langlois writes, Holland figures to work closely with new assistant coach Fred Vinson, who is considered one of the league’s best shooting instructors.

Growing Momentum For Jim Boylen To Keep Job?

August 6th, 2020 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

There appears to be strong growing momentum for Bulls head coach Jim Boylen to retain his current position, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, who reports that financial considerations are expected to play a key role in the decision.

Nearly three months ago, Cowley reported that new Bulls executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley were believed to be leaning toward making a head coaching change after receiving a “mixed bag” of feedback on Boylen from Bulls players. Cowley writes today that the team’s top basketball operations execs had even reached out through back-channels to potential candidates such as Sixers assistant Ime Udoka and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin.

However, the Bulls’ financial landscape has changed over the last few months. Team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who doesn’t have a reputation for aggressive spending, has claimed that financial losses for the Bulls and his Chicago White Sox are “in the nine figures.” There’s also ongoing uncertainty about what the 2020/21 NBA season will look like and how the coronavirus pandemic may continue to impact team and league revenues.

Although he cautions that the situation is fluid, Cowley suggests that the Bulls’ financial situation has greatly increased the chances of Boylen’s return. It doesn’t help matters that there are still no plans in place to have the NBA’s bottom eight teams conduct some form of organized offseason activites. Karnisovas has previously spoken about wanting to evaluate Boylen in such a setting, but he may not get an opportunity to do so.

ESPN reported last month that the financial strain caused by the pandemic may make teams around the league less inclined to change coaches this offseason, so the latest update on Boylen doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

Still, as Cowley rightly points out (via Twitter), it’s not as if replacing Boylen with a first-time coach like Udoka or Griffin would be exorbitantly costly for the franchise, at least in relative terms. Boylen is making just $1.6MM and a first-time coach could potentially be hired for a salary in the $2.5MM range. The league’s highest-paid coaches – Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich – are reportedly earning $10MM+ per year.

Bulls’ Ownership Excited About New Front Office

May 19th, 2020 at 7:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Bulls made some changes this offseason, bringing in Arturas Karnisovas to be the team’s head of basketball operations and Marc Eversley to be the new general manager. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has high hopes for the newly-hired duo.

“I’m excited about these guys,” Reinsdorf told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “In talking with Arturas and hearing what everyone else said about him, I was convinced we made the right decision. He’s not an egomaniac. He’s not shy. He seems balanced and basketball smart. That’s what I got out of the interview.”

Karnisovas is just the third person to hold the head of basketball operations title since Reinsdorf took over control of the team. Jerry Krause and John Paxson were the other two executives to run things in Chicago. However, unlike the previous hires, Reinsdorf didn’t lead the search and interview process; his son, Michael Reinsdorf, did.

“At the end of the day, my Dad, Jerry, is still the boss. So we had to have that final interview with my dad, and we did that over video. And it was clear after that meeting that we had our new head of basketball operations,” the younger Reinsdorf said in April. “I think what my Dad said to me after the meeting when we reconvened was: ‘I never thought you would find anyone as great as Arturas.’ So I knew we were done, and that night we were able to negotiate a deal with Arturas.”

Bulls Notes: Front Office, Boylen, Forman, Paxson

April 13th, 2020 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

On a conference call today introducing new executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf said that it was clear during the search process that the former Denver GM “checked every box,” as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. Reinsdorf admitted that his father, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, ultimately had to sign off on the hire, but said “it was clear after that meeting that we had our guy.”

Karnisovas, meanwhile, confirmed that J.J. Polk and Pat Connelly will join the Bulls’ front office, as previously reported, and said that hiring a general manager is next on his list of priorities. According to Karnisovas, the GM search will be “extensive and diverse,” and the goal will be to hire an executive whose skills complement his own, rather than overlapping significantly with his strengths (all Twitter links via K.C. Johnson).

As for the future of head coach Jim Boylen, that remains up in the air, with Karnisovas telling reporters that there’s no timeline for a decision on Boylen or the coaching staff (Twitter link via Johnson).

Boylen took the unusual step of issuing a welcome message to the new head of basketball operations through the team’s PR department, lauding Karnisovas’ résumé and commending the Reinsdorfs for bringing him aboard.

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Karnisovas offered the following explanation when asked about Gar Forman‘s dismissal: “After some consideration and conversation, it was apparent that we have different philosophies that will prevent us from moving forward. Those decisions are never easy. I was hired to affect change” (Twitter link via Johnson).
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times tweets that Forman’s departure should increase the Bulls’ appeal to free agents. Forman’s presence “poisoned the well” with players and agents, according to Cowley, who says the longtime general manager was viewed as “untrustworthy.”
Confirming a recent report, Michael Reinsdorf said today that it was John Paxson who came to ownership in the winter to suggest the need for changes in the front office (Twitter link via Johnson). Previously the Bulls’ executive VP of basketball operations, Paxson will now be a senior advisor.
After facing some criticism last week for a perceived lack of diversity in the Bulls’ front office search, Reinsdorf defended the team’s record on that front, as Johnson details for NBC Sports Chicago. According to Reinsdorf, two of the six candidates on the team’s short list for head of basketball operations were people of color, but Chicago was denied permission to interview both.
Karnisovas said today that facilitating player development will be one of his primary goals in Chicago, since the Bulls are a young team with a handful of promising young players (Twitter link via Johnson).

Bulls Preparing For Front Office Changes

February 16th, 2020 at 7:57pm CST by Luke Adams

7:57pm: K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago echoes many of Cowley’s points in his own report, writing that talk has been “rampant throughout All-Star weekend” about the changes the Bulls are expected to make to their front office. The team is seeking someone to take on the day-to-day basketball operations and become a “fresh voice and face of the franchise,” writes Johnson.

7:21pm: The Bulls are in the early stages of adding a new executive to their front office, sources tell Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. According to Cowley, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and COO Michael Reinsdorf have begun to do legwork – through back channels – on potential candidates.

Cowley, who suggests the Bulls are in the market for a general manager “with a louder voice,” writes that the search is expected to be widespread. Gar Forman still holds the GM role in Chicago for now, but senior advisor Doug Collins is among those who are in favor of a change, according to Cowley.

As Cowley explains, the idea would be for Paxson to “slip into the background” as the new general manager assumes media duties. Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf likes the model employed by the Chicago White Sox, with Ken Williams in the background as the VP while Rick Hahn has been more empowered in his GM role. For the Bulls, Paxson would take on a Williams-esque role, with the new GM playing Hahn’s part.

Forman, meanwhile, would likely be reassigned to a scouting position rather than being fired, per Cowley, who notes that the team wants to build up its scouting department this spring.

Paxson and Forman have headed the Bulls’ front office for over a decade, much to the chagrin of a significant faction of Bulls fans. During Friday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take, when guard Zach LaVine was asked whether he has confidence in Chicago’s decision-makers, the fans in attendance began to boo and a chant of “Fire GarPax!” broke out (link via Madeline Kenney of The Chicago Sun-Times).

Assuming the Bulls do move forward with the front office changes Cowley outlines in his report, it’ll be interesting to see whether the club sticks with head coach Jim Boylen, who has received the full support of the current group. Boylen’s current contract isn’t a long-term deal, so it’s possible a new GM would be given the go-ahead to make the call on his future.

Bulls Owner Talks Front Office, Team, Rebuild

December 20th, 2017 at 10:21pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Bulls hierarchy hasn’t always been clear with VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson and GM Gar Forman each taking on various responsibilities during their respective tenures. However, despite the unconventional approach, owner Jerry Reinsdorf is confident that the franchise has the right management in place.

“I picked Paxson to rebuild when [Jerry] Krause left [in 2003] because he’s a leader. Nothing has changed,” Reinsdorf tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “He’s a fine evaluator of talent. He’s a long-term thinker. He works well with the general manager. He works well with coaches. I’m a John Paxson fan.”

Paxson has traveled with the team all season in an attempt to create transparency and accountability while offering support to players and coaches. Forman has spent much of his time on the road, scouting prospects in search of future talent and taking on other traditional front office responsibilities.

“Forman is great with agents,” Reinsdorf said. “John hates to deal with agents. Gar is good at negotiating with the other general managers, but John was good at that too. Gar is great at cap knowledge and planning ahead. He’s an extremely detailed guy. That’s why we have the two jobs. And that’s a trend that teams are moving too. They realize you need two different skill sets.”

Forman served as the face of the front office during the Derrick Rose era, giving up that unofficial title to Paxson as the team went into a rebuild. Reinsdorf believes Forman has consistently done a great job, though Paxson is more of a media darling than the GM is.

“I think John plays well publicly, more than me or Gar,” the owner said. “People tend to like John. They trust him. He’s the guy next door. People look at Gar and me and we’re not warm and cuddly like John.”

Reinsdorf, who also owns the Chicago White Sox, will turn 82 years old in February and that begs the question: Why sign off on another rebuild?

“I figure I have at the most 15-20 years left and I’d like to win again,” Reinsdorf said. “I don’t like being caught in the middle.

“I think the rebuild is going great. We don’t want to be fooled by winning six games in a row. But we’re seeing our young players step up. We’re seeing [Nikola Mirotic] show what we thought we had in the first place. [Kris Dunn] is coming on. [Bobby Portis] is having a good year. And [Zach LaVine] hasn’t even played yet.

“I think Gar and John have put together the core of something good. Now it remains to be seen [if we] can take the next two steps, mediocrity and being good, without being stuck too long in mediocrity.”

Reinsdorf Bullish On Wade-Rondo-Butler Trio

September 8th, 2016 at 5:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf believes that the headstrong trio of Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo and Jimmy Butler will be successful because they’re “high character guys who want it to work,” K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Wade and Rondo signed with Chicago as free agents this summer and the club held onto Butler despite trade rumors swirling around him, particularly on draft night. The Bulls are projected to pair up Wade and Rondo in the backcourt while Butler sliding to small forward, though they are all subpar 3-point shooters.

In other highlights of the interview as reported by Johnson:

Reinsdorf expressed surprise that Wade ditched the Heat to join his hometown team (Twitter link). Wade signed a two-year, $47MM deal in mid-July.
The owner believes the team will be “competitive” this season but wouldn’t offer any predictions. Chicago’s failure to make the playoffs last season “bothered me a lot” because “we lost a lot of games to teams we shouldn’t have lost to.” (Twitter links)
Looking back on recent years, Reinsdorf laments the knee injuries that plagued former franchise player Derrick Rose. He had high hopes for the group and its inability to accomplish more during that era was “disappointing.” (Twitter link) Rose was traded to the Knicks in June.
Joakim Noah‘s leadership and involvement in the community will be missed but Reinsdorf is happy that the free agent center “got that kind of money.” (Twitter link). Noah signed a four-year, $72MM pact with the Knicks.