Chicago Bulls: Coaching search just took an interesting turn

The Chicago Bulls coaching search just took an interesting turn.

It has only been approximately 10 days since the Chicago Bulls parted ways with their head coach when they officially fired Jim Boylen on August 14th. Since then, there has been wild speculation over who would be the Bulls’ next coach.

Many postured that Executive Vice President Arturas Karnisovas and General Manager Marc Eversley have their eyes on a particular candidate but are waiting until that candidate’s team is eliminated from the NBA’s playoff bubble before they can make their move.

One such candidate who fits that profile is Philadelphia 76ers assistant Ime Udoka. In fact, Udoka had previously been rumored as the early favorite to land the job. Well, if in fact, Udoka is at the top of the list, the Bulls may want to move expeditiously.

That’s because of what has transpired over the last 24 hours. On Sunday night, the 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics who completed a four-game sweep. As a result, the team is rumored to be parting ways with their head coach, Brett Brown, after seven seasons. While no announcement has been made yet, it could come at any time.

So how does that impact the Bulls? Well, perhaps Udoka, a current 76er assistant, is on the team’s shortlist to replace Brown, who failed to get the team to the promised land after their massive rebuild. Udoka is largely seen as an up-and-coming star in the coaching ranks and his familiarity with the players and the organization might give him the advantage.

In fact, one might even speculate that the 76ers made such a quick decision to fire Brown to try to prevent another team — like the Bulls – from swooping in and poaching Udoka. Multiple media outlets are already reporting Udoka as one of the candidates to replace Brown should the team make it official.

The Bulls were smart to wait for their guy and not rush to hire a coaching candidate just for the sake of doing so. When you identify your candidate, there is nothing wrong with being patient until he’s available. With that said, if Udoka is the guy, the Bulls need to strike soon or risk losing him for good.