Power ranking the Bulls’ interesting candidates for top executive position

3. Justin Zanik

When Utah Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey was promoted to executive VP of basketball ops last May, it was Justin Zanik who took his job in Salt Lake City. These moves were made to keep Zanik in-house, according to the Salt Lake Tribune‘s Tony Jones, since he had interviewed for the vacant Philadelphia 76ers GM position last season.

However, that apparently wasn’t enough to prevent the Bulls from getting Zanik on for a video interview, as Wojnarowski reported. The appeal for Zanik probably lies in the ability to have full autonomy with a franchise, which he was promised but never received during his time with the Milwaukee Bucks as assistant GM and GM-in-waiting back in 2016.

Zanik’s experience as an NBA executive dates back to 2013, when he first joined the Jazz as an assistant GM before joining the Bucks for the 2016-17 season and then returning to Utah afterwards.

He’s not a flashy option, but he did help make moves for Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Ed Davis during his first summer as GM. Sure, those moves may not have panned out as planned for the Jazz, but they were heralded at the time and looked good on paper nonetheless.