Zach LaVine has never been one to demand that his opinions be implemented by his front office.
New regime or old one, the Bulls guard has always maintained that he hoped that his input would carry some weight. That what he had to say would at least come up in conversations, considering the franchise has insisted that he is the face of the organization.
As one Bulls player told the Sun-Times on Wednesday, however, the growing concern is no current player is really being listened to. LaVine, several veterans, a seemingly disgruntled rookie, no one.
For a new-look front office that came out on Day 1 and said they would build a foundation on being “players first,’’ it’s now starting to feel like they’re not even in the top three.
“One of my mottos is ‘players first,’ ‘’ new general manager Marc Eversley said on the day he was officially introduced to the media back in May. “I think you have to create a players-first mentality.’’
So when exactly is that going to start?
Fair or unfair, the locker room is not completely sold that current head coach Jim Boylen is the guy for the job moving forward.
It’s been expressed very publicly by the likes of Denzel Valentine and second-round pick Daniel Gafford, and it’s also been expressed privately with the Sun-Times reporting that several key players were very open with executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas in initial conversations that went on when Karnisovas was hired, painting a very mixed review of the job Boylen had been doing.
Enough so that several NBA scouts familiar with Eversley and Karnisovas had heard that the two were zeroing in on going after Philadelphia assistant coach Ime Udoka to take over the head coaching seat.
That was back in June.
Yet, it’s now almost August, Bulls players have been in and out of town for voluntary workouts at the Advocate Center, and the early buzz of all the changes that were being made throughout the organization have suddenly been replaced by crickets.
Not only with the coaching staff, but the rest of the expected build out of the front office.
According to one player, it instead feels like very little has changed.
The good news is the Bulls have time on their side. The 22-team Orlando bubble has held, but is yet to even begin a meaningful game. With the start-up date of the 2020-21 season tentatively set for the beginning of December, the Bulls have months to continue evaluating Boylen and the staff, as well as possible coaching candidates to bring in.
The bad news, however, is a bit more concerning.
Boylen returning has always been the wish of the Reinsdorfs and now-adviser John Paxson, but as multiple reports have stated, was never a prerequisite made to Karnisovas in taking the job.
The problem is that because the entire swamp was not drained by the new regime, there are lingering voices that continue propping Boylen up as the right choice moving forward.
Not that the likes of assistant GM Brian Hagen and analytics guru Steve Weinman should be blamed. They are simply products of the Gar Forman Era, where they were taught yes is always better than no, especially when it comes to what board chairman Jerry Reinsdorf really wants.
There’s still Survival 101 lurking in the organization, and it is seemingly now carrying more weight than the players.
Add in the fact that Reinsdorf has recently been very open with the money he’s going to lose between the Bulls and the White Sox because of the coronavirus, and while it shouldn’t come down to finances and Boylen staying – especially with the believed $3.2 billion value of the Bulls — it very well could.
Meanwhile, the Bulls players are quietly going about their offseason business, wondering if they are simply being listened to or actually being heard.
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July 29, 2020 at 10:28PM
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Bulls players concerned they aren’t being heard by the new front office - Chicago Sun-Times
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