Sixers’ Marc Eversley to become Chicago Bulls’ general manager

Marc Eversley is about to make history.

The 76ers’ senior vice president of player personnel agreed Monday to become the Chicago Bulls’ new general manager, league sources confirmed. ESPN was first to report the news.

The London native will become the first black general manager in franchise history. He will help new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artus Karnisovas.

Eversley replaces longtime general manager Gar Forman, whom the Bulls fired April 13. That’s the day Karnisovas officially took over the Chicago franchise after spending time as the Denver Nuggets’ general manager.

The Bulls were criticized for not interviewing a person of color for their post of executive vice president of basketball operations. Part of the criticism stemmed from the Bulls’ lack of history of hiring high-ranking minority executives.

Looking to change things, Karnisovas was determined to hire a person of color to be the GM.

As a result, Eversley will be the first black person to hold that post. B.J. Armstrong and Randy Brown had served as assistant general managers.

The Bulls are adding a great talent evaluator who is good at building relationships.

Eversley came to Philadelphia in May 2016 to work with Bryan Colangelo, then the Sixers’ president of basketball operations/general manager.

That wasn’t the first time Eversley worked under Colangelo.

In 2006, Colangelo, then the Raptors’ general manager, hired Eversley, who before that spent 10 years at Nike.

He was known at Nike for building relationships with the players, their agents, family members, and friends. That prompted Colangelo to hire him.

Eversley was at Toronto until 2013 and climbed the ranks from director of basketball operations to assistant general manager. He went on to spend three years as the Washington Wizards’ vice president of scouting before reuniting with Colangelo in Philly.

Eversley eyed Matisse Thybulle as early as his junior season at Washington. He had a huge hand in the Sixers’ selection of the standout rookie guard, who is one of the league’s best young defenders.

Thybulle shut down his predraft workouts and didn’t attend the NBA combine last summer after working out in front of Eversley and Sixers general manager Elton Brand. The Sixers had promised to draft him if he was still available late in the first round. The team ended up moving up four spots in a trade with the Boston Celtics to select Thybulle with the 20th pick.

While in Toronto, Eversley was the first to recognize the talent in DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors drafted him with the ninth overall pick in 2009, and DeRozan became a four-time All-Star.

Eversley was also well ahead of everyone on the potential of five-time All-Star Damian Lillard while working as a Raptors executive. Lillard was eventually selected sixth overall in 2012 by the Portland Trail Blazers out of Weber State.

The executive drew some criticism in Philadelphia for pushing for the Sixers to draft Markelle Fultz in 2017. The team moved up two spots to select him first overall.

Fultz. who had shooting problems, played in just 33 games with the Sixers before being traded to the Orlando Magic on Feb. 7, 2019.

The point guard received a diagnosis of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, which limits the ability to shoot. Multiple sources, however, said his shooting problems were mental.

This is the second time Eversley interviewed for a GM job. He met with the Charlotte Hornets in 2018. Charlotte eventually hired Mitch Kupchak.

He will join a Chicago team that is rebuilding.