As he prepares for his first draft as the Chicago Bulls top basketball executive, Arturas Karnišovas is also hoping he can help improve the team’s luck with ping-pong balls.
Karnišovas will represent the Bulls at the NBA draft lottery on Thursday, the team announced Saturday morning. The news comes a day after Karnišovas made one of his biggest moves since taking over the Bulls in April, firing coach Jim Boylen and launching his first coaching search.
The NBA draft lottery is being held virtually this season, breaking Chicago’s two-year run of hosting the event.
The Bulls rebuild has felt motionless in recent years and that perception has almost certainly been shaped by their draft position and inability to escape the No. 7 overall pick.
They have drawn the seventh overall pick in the past two seasons and, although they have come away with talented players such as Wendell Carter Jr. (2018) and Coby White (2019), they have missed out on a chance to select some of the projected superstars at the top of those drafts. When they agreed to trade Jimmy Butler on draft night in 2017, they exchanged their draft pick to take Lauri Markkanen, who was also the No.7 overall pick.
There are some varying opinions of this year’s draft class, but although it is not widely considered to be a strong or deep one, Karnišovas will have an opportunity to add another top-10 selection to a young core of lottery picks.
After finishing this season 22-43 before the NBA shutdown in March, the Bulls enter the lottery with a 7.5% chance at the No.1 overall pick.
The Bulls have a 32% chance of cracking the top four, but could also fall as low as No. 11. Their best odds (19.7%), however, would have them drafting in a familiar spot — No. 7 overall once again.