Chicago Bulls: Three head coach candidates to avoid

It took a while, but the Chicago Bulls finally fired coach Jim Boylen after two pitiful seasons. Here are three replacements the team must avoid.

As the weeks went by after the Chicago Bulls introduced their new EVP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas, fans and reporters alike wondered how long it’d take for the other shoe to drop. That other shoe being, of course, head coach Jim Boylen.

It was just a matter of time, everyone thought. Surely, the Bulls wouldn’t keep Boylen on board as coach after a 39-84 record. Right? As the days passed, reports began to swirl about team ownership being hesitant to fire Boylen either because of money or loyalty.

The Reinsdorf family is notoriously loyal to their front office and coaching hires, both with the Bulls and Chicago White Sox. But how could the family really keep a guy like Boylen on after clashes with players and staff, and a terrible record?

It turns out that the concern was overblown, and the Reinsdorfs appeared to be waiting until the last possible second to fire Boylen. The former (has a nice ring to it) Bulls coach was fired on the final day of the NBA’s regular season.

https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1296610736526053376

Karnisovas said he thought it was a good timeframe to make the change because of the draft lottery that was looming. He also said he wanted to be deliberate with the decision. The Bulls ended up with the fourth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft after the lottery.

The team made it known that the search for a new head coach would start immediately. There some names of great candidates being thrown around like Philadelphia 76ers assistant Ime Udoka and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.

That’s a great start, but there are also candidates that could be disastrous hires. Here are three head coaching candidates the Bulls should avoid.