It’s not an F. And in the underwhelming world of Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, he’ll take it.
Karnisovas likely will be grounded from screen time for a few weeks, and some of his car privileges will have to be revoked. All the while, though, he’ll be doing his best to argue that a D+ grade is still passing.
He’s not wrong. It is passing — barely.
That’s how Karnisovas came out of the midterm exam that was the NBA trade deadline. He had a good concept gone wrong and, more important, one that came at least a season too late.
In total, it amounted to seven trades, a whole bunch of second-round picks and a two-month tryout for newly acquired guards Jaden Ivey, Rob Dillingham, Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons.
In the big picture, it was Karnisovas finally spitting at ‘‘competitive integrity’’ and going the way of the soft tank.
Combined with the Bulls’ medical department being overly cautious with current injuries, Karnisovas left coach Billy Donovan with a frontcourt that has very little chance of outplaying bigger teams in the final 27 games of the season. That’s the plan for how to lose games and increase the Bulls’ lottery odds for a loaded 2026 draft class.
It’s subtle compared to what the Jazz and Pacers have been doing, but it has been effective so far, with the Bulls going 0-4 since the roster purge.
So why the poor grade after Karnisovas moved a bunch of expiring contracts to collect draft assets and chase lottery luck? Because, like everything he does, it came too late.
A top priority for a front office is understanding the value of a draft class. The 2025 class was filled with impactful players, and Karnisovas ignored that, only for the Bulls to be embarrassed in a play-in game. As far as his chase for 2026 — another talented class — it came too late. As bad as the Bulls are playing, it will be tough for them to drop lower than No. 9 in the lottery odds.
If they can, however, that would leave them with a 4.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, a 4.8% chance at the No. 2 pick, a 5.2% chance at the No. 3 pick and a 5.7% chance at the No. 4 pick.
Karnisovas should be thankful for the master class several organizations put on to raise the grading curve. Because, in reality, that D+ could have been a bit worse.
Trade-deadline winners
Pacers and Clippers: In sending a package that included center Ivica Zubac to the Pacers, the Clippers got back talented guard Bennedict Mathurin and a fun lottery gamble. If the Pacers land the fifth through ninth pick in the lottery, then the Clippers get it.
Either way, the Pacers are set to make a run in the Eastern Conference next season with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and a one-two punch of Pascal Siakam and Zubac in the frontcourt. The Clippers get a chance to rebuild on the fly.
Grades: A
Cavaliers: James Harden with two rim runners and that defense behind him for
often-injured Darius Garland?
Grade: A-
Jazz: The Jazz surprised everyone by accelerating their rebuild by acquiring power forward Jaren Jackson while keeping their first-round pick. They then thumbed their nose at the NBA by sitting Jackson and Lauri Markkanen in a winnable game, just to keep the lottery spot in a safe place. Sure, they were fined, but such textbook tanking should be applauded for its boldness.
Grade: A-
Trade-deadline losers
Kings: The Kings have been begging teams to take DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine or Domantas Sabonis off their hands. All three have at least one more year on their contracts and went nowhere — just like the Kings.
Grade: F
Heat: The Heat continue to miss out on key players. In the past, it was Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant. More recently, it was Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. What they ended up with instead is another invitation to the play-in tournament.
Grade: D-
Rockets: The Rockets have needed another guard since Fred VanVleet was lost for the season to injury and were in talks with the Bulls about Ayo Dosunmu or Coby White. They missed on both, as White went to the Hornets and Dosunmu to a Timberwolves team that might send the Rockets home for the summer in the playoffs.
Grade: D-
