NEWSLETTER
With Jim Boylen officially out the door, the Chicago Bulls will immediately begin a coaching search. Arturas Karnisovas offered no timeline for a decision when speaking with the media on Friday afternoon, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t already have an idea of who should sit in the head coach chair next season.
NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson confirmed five names that are already on the team’s list of candidates: Kenny Atkinson, Ime Udoka, Wes Unseld Jr, Darvin Ham, and Stephen Silas (for more information on those names, I encourage you to read our post from earlier). Chances are, over the next couple of days, we’ll see even more candidates added to the list.
After all, Wojnarowski reported earlier this morning that the Bulls vacancy is attractive to coaches far and wide.
“And now, they’ll set their eyes on a coaching search for a job that is attractive to candidates around the league. The Bulls have excellent young talent. It’s the kind of team coaches believe could have a fairly significant turnaround in a short amount of time.”
I find this so easy and hard to believe all at the time.
Considering this is a historic franchise in the 3rd largest NBA market (and hands-down best city in the country), it’s not difficult to see why someone would be interested. With that said, this is also a franchise that doesn’t necessarily have a great track record with head coaches. The idea of a reenvisioned front office, though, must be enough to put the Bulls back on many people’s good side. And Woj is right – not only does this new head coach get a new front office to work with, but they also get an intriguing young roster.
With Zach LaVine, Coby White, Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and another lottery pick on the way, it’s not like this head coach is walking into a barren wasteland. The Bulls have pieces, and while it’s up for debate whether those pieces are all part of the longterm plans, they can at least help the organization move back into the competitive landscape one way or another.
Also, it’s a relatively big deal that coaches around the league believe this Bulls team could see a “significant turnaround” in a “short amount of time.” The more people in league circles that have faith in this young talent, the better I feel about that young talent.
I don’t think we’re reading a rags to riches story with this Bulls roster, but perhaps a sped-up ugly duckling. If Karnisovas can hire the right person for the job, next season should (hopefully?) be more competitive from the get-go. Then, by the time Year 2 roles around (with a lot of cap space and a full year under the new coach’s belt), the Chicago Bulls could really be cooking with gas.
