Bulls target candidates for president of basketball operations opening, receive permisison to interview 6 executives

The Chicago Bulls have begun their search for a new president of basketball operations with a preliminary list of candidates that the team has requested to interview, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

The six candidates the Bulls have received permission to interview are Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Detroit Pistons senior VP of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey, Atlanta Hawks senior VP of basketball ops Bryson Graham, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant GM Mike Gansey and San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dave Telep.

Additionally, the Bulls are expected to include Austin Brown, the co-head of Creative Artists Agency’s basketball division in their search, according to Charania. Brown’s list of clients includes Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks, the Hawks’ Nickeil Walker-Alexander and OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks.

Chicago is seeking a new top basketball executive to replace Artūras Karnišovas, who was fired shortly before the end of the regular season. General manager Marc Eversley was also dismissed, but the new president of basketball ops will presumably be in charge of hiring for that position.

Interviews are expected to begin this week, sources said, and the team is aiming to hire its new decision-maker just before or just after the mid-May draft combine.