The Bulls have their man. Wednesday night, NBC Sports Chicago confirmed that the team is in advanced negotiations to make Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas the team’s newest head of basketball operations – the Bulls’ third lead executive since Jerry Reinsdorf and a group of investors purchased the team in 1985.

Simply put, Karnisovas enters Chicago one of the most well-respected veteran executives in the NBA. His reputation as a talent evaluator, dating back to his days as director of international scouting with the Houston Rockets, is sterling. He’s known and venerated in gyms across the globe from his decorated overseas playing career. His congeniality has drawn ringing endorsements from credible names across the league. Four times in five years he’s had teams on his heels for an executive spot (the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Bulls).

But the Bulls were the ones to snare him, and as it stands right now, this hire is a major win. But anyone who has closely observed the Bulls in recent years knows they’re not one man away from vaulting back into contention. Karnisovas is a great start, and his hire is timed well, given that he’ll now be afforded an indefinite period to evaluate every layer of the organization and carefully calculate his next moves while the NBA is on hiatus.

The question now is what comes next, and that’s almost as important as Karnisovas accepting the gig on its own. In that vein, here’s the start of a to-do list for Karnisovas to stick to his fridge for the start of his tenure with the Bulls, and how one might expect him to attack each task.

1. Fill out the front office

This is the most essential Bulls storyline to track in the coming days and weeks. For months, the Bulls’ desire to revamp and scale out their front office — traditionally, one of the smallest in the league — has been widely reported. An architect of Karnisovas’ reputation in the driver’s seat is a good first step towards that aim.

There’s been a lot of movement on this front Friday afternoon. According to our Bulls Insider K.C. Johnson, the team plans to hire J.J. Polk of the Pelicans as an assistant general manager (there will be multiple hires at this position). Earlier in the week, they also informally interviewed former Bull Nazr Mohammed, who has worked in the Oklahoma City Thunder front office under Sam Presti since 2017, for an undisclosed role (though Johnson reports it would not be general manager).

For that GM spot, Nuggets assistant general manager Calvin Booth, Clippers assistant general manager Mark Hughes, and Magic assistant general manager Matt Lloyd are all targets, according to Johnson. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Nuggets scout Pat Connelly (brother of team president of basketball operations Tim) and 76ers assistant general manager Marc Eversley as candidates, as well. Karnisovas is wasting no time getting to work.

Polk, Mohammed, Booth, Eversley and Hughes are all African-American, a notable development after a report from Marc Spears detailed league-wide frustration over the lack of diversity in the Bulls’ front office search. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports has reported the Bulls plan to hire a person of color as general manager.

RELATED: Michael Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams defend Bulls amid diversity concerns

Karnisovas’ background both as a player and a crucial part of modern front offices in Houston and Denver are key here. You can see that through the Polk hiring and Mohammed interviews, even on a micro level: Polk is renowned as a salary cap expert and studied law at the University of Illinois, Mohammed played 17 years in the league and works in scouting and development for the Thunder. The net cast for these positions will be vast and diverse.

And of course, embedded in all this are decisions on the roles of former EVP of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman. To this point, reporting by Johnson indicates Paxson will step into an advisory role, offering assistance only when called upon, and Forman’s future has yet to be assessed. Both decisions will reportedly be Karnisovas’ to make.

The above flurry of search activity is an indicator that promises of “full autonomy” are being honored.

2. Decide on the future of coach Jim Boylen

The case for Boylen exiting stage left centers on a lack of results in his nearly two-year tenure as coach of the Bulls. Through 123 games, he owns just a 39-84 win-loss record. This season, the Bulls owned just the 29th-rated offense in the NBA when the league suspended play. Lauri Markkanen regressed in a Year 3 that once showed promise. Injury misfortune dots all of those missteps, but these Bulls haven’t looked a team on the rise even when healthy. The rebuild is stuck in neutral, and outside of Coby White’s infernal post-All-Star stretch and Zach LaVine’s breakout, not much on the court appears poised to kick it into drive.

The case for him staying, one that Boylen hopes resonates, is predicated on his stated belief that he’s accomplished the goals the front office laid out. The Bulls top-X rated defense was a bright spot this season, though the aggressive blitzing schemes many considered precarious collapsed when mass injuries struck. With their low efficiency as a qualifier, the Bulls’ tendency profile on offense is in line with what Boylen (and, it should be noted, his entirely new coaching staff) set out to accomplish at the start of the season: Lots of threes, lots of rim attempts and an eschewing of the midrange game.

Other considerations include the two years remaining on Boylen’s deal (the Bulls are also still paying Fred Hoiberg, who was fired in Nov. 2018) and the uncertainty of the NBA calendar with the COVID-19 pandemic grinding league operations-basically to a halt.

Karnisovas’ MO as an inclusive, thorough and organized decision-maker indicates he might be open to hearing Boylen’s case, but he is in no way beholden to the expectations or evaluations of the past administration. Whatever direction he takes, the quicker the decision the better for evaluatory and preparedness purposes going into the offseason.

3. Assess the roster

Get those trade machines whirring! But in all seriousness, major change coming to the Bulls’ roster in the immediate future doesn’t feel overly likely for a couple of reasons.

First, until further notice, the NBA season is pretty much paused on March 11 (when play was suspended). No games have been canceled and we don’t yet know if, when or how the league might make a return — and thus, when the offseason, draft and 2020 free agency period might be held. And all of that’s without mentioning the uncertain impact revenue losses might have on the league’s salary cap.

Second, the Bulls as presently constructed are a tad inflexible, at least for the next year. Once Otto Porter Jr. opts into his $28.5 million player option, the team will presumably be over whatever salary cap is eventually decided upon, and with the exception of LaVine, none of the team’s intriguing assets are at their highest value coming off an underwhelming team season.

The good news is Karnisovas doesn’t step foot anywhere near this job if he didn’t see the potential on this roster to work with. Still, by next season’s trade deadline, it could be decision time on a number of the Bulls’ key cogs. To say nothing about LaVine’s development and what he’s meant for this team, if we’re still saying the same things about this team 10 months from now, his $19.5 million salary makes him a desirable asset for many contending clubs on the trade market.

The Bulls’ books blow wide open starting with the summer of 2021. If you’re looking for a splash, that’s when to expect it. And in the spirit of good news, Karnisovas’ cache around the league should improve the team’s free agent standing. The Nuggets’ inking of Paul Millsap in the summer of 2017 (one of Karnisovas’ first moves as GM and a significant signing for their market) is evidence of that. As are the words of his old boss:

“What top free agents want to feel is that they’re part of a bigger thing and part of a plan that they believe in... They’re going to believe in the plan he pitches to them,” more Morey on Karnisovas — Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) April 9, 2020

(Quote via an interview with Rockets GM Daryl Morey on the McNeil and Parkins Show on 670 The Score. Karnisovas worked under Morey from 2008-2012 in Houston)

Hopefully, this assessment process has already begun. And hopefully, we can get live basketball at some point soon to continue it.

4. Gameplan for Lauri Markkanen extension talks

This ties into assessing the roster, but Markkanen’s situation deserves its own blurb.

Coming off a down third season, Markkanen is rookie extension eligible whenever the offseason kicks off, and there’s sure to be a chasm at the start of negotiations. As a stated face of the franchise, Markkanen’s camp will want as close to nine figures (or the max) as possible. But from the Bulls’ perspective, any big-money, long-term commitment warrants skepticism, given the up-and-down nature of his play through three seasons.

Karnisovas will get the chance to lay fresh eyes on Markkanen once he gets in the room, and from there we can read the tea leaves on eventual extension talks. Worth noting, though, is the premium the Nuggets put on continuity in Karnisovas’ tenure there. Remember: The Nuggets didn’t just draft and develop Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray into foundational pieces. They also retained them long-term. As others in the West have vaulted into contention by way of splashy free agent signings and marquee draft picks, the Nuggets were on pace for a second consecutive 50-win regular season after returning 12 players from their 2018-19 roster at the start of 2019-20.

Yes, Karnisovas has worked under the aggressive Daryl Morey. And yes, none of that talk of continuity or development has yet culminated in even a Conference Finals appearance for Denver. But it’s instructive, nonetheless. Still, evidence suggests Karnisovas won’t shy away from necessary reshuffling anywhere in the organization if required.

5. Gameplan for the draft

When discussing Karnisovas’ executive record, one of the first points brought up is his decorated history in the draft, and with good reason. Highlights include snaring Jokic with the No. 41 overall pick in 2014, fleecing the Bulls by trading down to select Jusuf Nurkic (No. 16) and Harris (No. 19) in exchange for the rights to Doug McDermott that same year, hitting on Murray (No. 9) and Michael Porter Jr. (No. 14) in the mid-to-late lottery and late-round/undrafted finds in Monte Morris and Torrey Craig.

He joins an organization in the Bulls with a likely top-10 draft choice — if not higher by a stroke of good luck — this season and all of their first-round picks moving forward. It will be interesting to see the direction he goes with that pick. While many don’t hold this draft in high regard, there are options near the top end of the talent spectrum that could intrigue the Bulls if they find themselves in the right position — LaMelo Ball as a dynamic distributor alongside LaVine leaps to mind, as do Deni Avdija or Obi Toppin as a high-upside project in the frontcourt.

But say the Bulls end up in the back half of the top 10. Speculation alert, but would it be crazy to see Karnisovas trade down? In a draft many classify as wanting for unmistakable prospects, it could be a way to start stacking assets down the line, and there are prospects projected to go in the mid-to-late teens or early 20s that could still help the Bulls. How do Devin Vassell or Saddiq Bey as 3-and-D hopefuls on the wing sound? Or Tre Jones or Theo Maledon as a pseudo-Kris Dunn replacement as a defense-first backup guard?

Further, two of the Nuggets most notable moves in his tenure there employed the trade-down strategy — one the waxing of the Bulls mentioned above, the other (on a darker note) a move-back from No. 13 to No. 24 in 2017 that saw the Nuggets swap Donovan Mitchell for Trey Lyles and the rights to Tyler Lydon. See, Karnisovas isn’t perfect — though the hits far outweigh the misses.

This is lower than other points on the priority list for a reason. The resolution to the top four tasks will undoubtedly influence the decision-making process on this one. But considering this may be the best way for the Bulls to add tangibly to their roster for the upcoming season (outside of a vet on the MLE), it’s worth monitoring.

SUBSCRIBE: Apple/iPhone | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Art 19

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Bulls easily on your device.