Marc Eversley joins Bulls as GM from 76ers’ front office

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls announced Marc Eversley as their new general manager on Friday.

Eversley agreed to take the job earlier in the week. He succeeds the fired Gar Forman and will work under new top executive Arturas Karnisovas. Eversley spent four years in Philadelphia’s front office — the past two as the 76ers’ senior vice president of player personnel.

The Bulls were 11th in the Eastern Conference at 22-43 and on the way to their third straight losing record when the league stopped play.

“I’m grateful to be working with someone like Arturas, who shares my level of passion and commitment to winning basketball, and having both come from successful programs, we will put in the work and all it entails to become a sustainable and winning team,” Eversley said in a statement.

A Canadian, Eversley becomes the Bulls’ first black general manager.

He was with the 76ers when they drafted two-time All-Star Ben Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 and had a big hand in them trading up with Boston to get Matisse Thybulle at No. 20 last June. The rookie guard established himself as one of the NBA’s best young defenders this season.

The 76ers went from winning 28 games in 2016-17 to more than 50 the next two seasons. They were 39-26 when the NBA suspended play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He spent a decade at Nike, managing company-owned retail stores in Ontario before moving to their corporate office in Oregon and becoming the point person for their basketball player relationship division. He then worked in Toronto’s front office for seven years and Washington’s for three before joining the 76ers.

“I set out to find a general manager who complemented my vision and values, and who could help implement them at the Bulls in a fresh way. Marc’s background and skills do exactly that,” said Karnisovas, hired as executive vice president of basketball operations three weeks ago.

“He has a history of building strong relationships across the board, identifying talent at organizations that have had success during his time there, and the necessary insight for building a network that will be an asset to our program.”