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Report: Bulls hiring Nuggets GM Karnisovas for VP role

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Chicago Bulls are finalizing a contract with Arturas Karnisovas to make him the team's executive vice president of basketball operations, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

The 48-year-old Lithuanian will reportedly be tasked with reconfiguring the Bulls' front office, ushering in a new era after more than a decade with John Paxson and Gar Forman at the helm.

Karnisovas served as the Denver Nuggets' general manager under Tim Connelly since 2017 after joining the team as an assistant general manager in 2013. He also spent five years as an international scout with the Houston Rockets and worked in the NBA's basketball operations office from 2003 to 2008.

A two-time bronze medalist with the Lithuanian national team (1992 and 1996), Karnisovas attended Seton Hall from 1990 to 1994 before embarking on a playing career in Europe.

Paxson, a former player with the Bulls, was first hired as the team's general manager in 2003 and was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 2009. He is expected to remain with the organization in an advisory role.

Forman's future with the team is unclear. He was hired to succeed Paxson as general manager in 2009 and was named co-winner of the Executive of the Year Award in 2011, sharing the honor with Miami Heat president Pat Riley.

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