Joel Lorenzi: Michael Reinsdorf's idea of a 'clean slate' isn't attractive
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What led to the Bulls firing Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley?
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Over the timeline, and Dillingham, and they throw it behind Albrecht, and they're going to eat the clock, and this is going to do it. So here in Washington, D.C., the Bulls end a seven-game slide. Bulls win. Bulls win. Bulls win. 129-98. You've got to love it.
That is Chuck Swirsky, and he was on the call for the Bulls' win last night right here on 104.3 The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody, and we go to our hotline and also to Twitch, twitch.tv slash thescorechicago, and that is where we connect with Joelle Lorenzi. Joel X. Lorenzi on X. He is also a staff writer for The Athletic covering the NBA. He is based here in Chicago and he's been on top of many of the Bulls sagas and also covered the Oklahoma City Thunder. So Joel was the man to call. Joel, how are you doing?
I'm good.
How does Michael Reinsdorf's vision impact the Bulls' future?
How are you guys?
We're good. We are trying to figure out, this was a question at the beginning of our show, whether or not keeping Billy Donovan in place as either the coach or something more with the Bulls was the best way to get the best GM candidacy pool possible. Among that, what were your takeaways from what you heard yesterday with Michael Reinsdorf?
Yeah, many layers to Michael's pressure, I thought.
Yeah.
And I think you guys are right. And that's the right question. I think Michael... To me, it seems he's missed the mark, I thought, in how much change is really needed in Chicago and how much freedom candidates desire. I mean, me personally, like, the two jobs that are open right now are Dallas and Chicago. And to me, I was kind of always under the impression, personally, that the candidate pools, while there might be some overlap, were always going to be different anyway. I think the Dallas job is just much sexier, if you ask me. But, like... The pool now, after Michael talked, seems to really be handcuffed.
What are the implications of keeping Billy Donovan as coach?
I mean, I think the candidates now that you're looking at are... And it's more nuanced than this, I'm sure. But guys who really, really want a head job and really want some leadership, or if it is someone more high profile with a better resume, somebody who does not care about the current situation and feels like they will outlast the people... on the roster, on the staff, whatever. Like, somebody who's like, I don't care what Michael's saying. But to me, Michael, what he's signaling is like a... He's definitely shortening the length, this list, this theoretical list to me based on the two caveats I heard, which were... He's still firmly against a rebuild, which is the most viable path for this thing.
You need a real shakeup. And then he still wants Billy to be the coach, which, like, to me, I get both sides of it. I get their interest in Billy. Like, he's a known commodity to their franchise. While I don't think his resume is all that impressive in the NBA, he's a culture setter. The guys that matter on his team apparently seem to like playing for him. So they have that going. And I think they're kind of, to me, they're maybe overcompensating a bit. Mike was overcompensating a bit for what AK lacked.
How does the current situation affect the Bulls' GM candidacy pool?
And that's why they're probably clinging to Billy, to me. The lack of communication and messaging. AK not necessarily being a culture setter. These are the things that Billy is and why I think... And while I don't think it's wise when you're trying to widen your candidate pool, I think it's wider clinging to Billy.
Yeah, I think it's a bad sense of the room in that you don't understand that you're just leaning on Billy so hard because everything else was so bad. So it looks even shinier compared to what you just got rid of with AK and with Mark Eversley, that whole front office. Here's my question for you, Joel, after listening to that. Sure. and understanding they don't want to rebuild. He mentioned Sam Presti. We just talked about this. He mentioned Sam Presti by name as that shining example he wants to follow. Does he not understand that that man had to go through back-to-back seasons of less than 25 wins? I don't understand how he thinks this is going to get better without a rebuild.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to the Bulls firing Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley?
0:01–1:02
2
How does Michael Reinsdorf's vision impact the Bulls' future?
1:02–2:12
3
What are the implications of keeping Billy Donovan as coach?
2:12–3:39
4
How does the current situation affect the Bulls' GM candidacy pool?
3:39–4:39
5
What are the challenges of rebuilding the Bulls roster?
4:39–6:32
6
How does the Bulls' situation compare to other NBA teams?
6:32–7:54
7
What risks does the Bulls management need to consider?
7:54–9:41
8
What steps should the Bulls take to create a successful future?
9:41–24:58
Speakers
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