Less than 24 hours after the end of a very disappointing season, reports have surfaced that interim coach Jim Boylan has been given his walking papers.
Boylan took over for Scott Skiles, but was unable to really inspire the team. The young Bulls grossly underachieved as a result.
I don't think many people, if any, believed that Boylan was the right person to lead the Bulls into the future, so it comes as no surprise that he was let go. What surprises me is the timing.
The Bulls didn't waste a second in letting the coach go, which makes me wonder if they've got someone on their radar for next year.
This off-season will be key for the Bulls. Besides getting a coach who can connect with young players and rekindle the chemistry the Bulls once had, they need to decide which players to give to extensions and they must prepare for the draft.
The Bulls are talented enough to live through a bad draft pick, but they can improve some of their weaker areas very quickly and relatively cheaply if they their homework.
They should make good use of their picks, especially because they will likely be fairly high in the draft order.
Item number one, however, is replacing Boylan.
Candidates' names started popping up almost as soon as John Paxon finishes the official press conference.
One rumor that will probably steam is Larry Brown. Anytime a high-profile coach is out of work and a high-profile team is out of a coach, the media loves putting them together. I highly doubt this will happen, but I suppose anything is possible.
All I ask from the Bulls' front office is this: Please avoid Isiah Thomas at all costs. If he calls, tell him it is the Cubs' front office and hang up. The man is a curse.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Daniel Muth about 1 year ago
Yeah, to me, the Bulls were the biggest disappointment in the NBA this year (though the heat are right up there). I honestly believed that they were going to take the next step this year and help make the Eastern Conference respectable. But with Cleveland not living up to expectations, the heat in a dismal funk, and the Bulls completely regressing, not to mention a sub-par performance by Toronto (another team I thought might improve) the East is as bad as it has ever been!
Advice: 1) don't even say the words Isiah Thomas (I realize you're pretty much arguing this point)! I'm a Detroit guy and I love him from his days with the bad boys, but I wouldn't hire him to coach a junior high AAU club. 2) Just don't think Larry Brown would put up with a attitudes in Chicago and you'd end up buying out 20 million in contract obligations just to get him to leave. He may be the highest paid person in the NBA over the last five years, and half the time he's not even coaching!
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Joe Willett about 1 year ago
I completely agree with everything said in this article. well put.
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