By this point, people have pretty much abandoned all hope that the Chicago Bulls will see reason on Jim Boylen. When Arturas Karnisovas was hired as VP of Basketball Operations, it was thought he might usher in actual change. Thus far the only thing he’s brought that to is the front office. The roster remains untouched to this point and even worse Boylen still has a job.
Stacey King understands the frustration. Fans want action. No action means this team is staying the same as it was and what it was constituted one of the worst teams in the NBA. Boylen with his questionable game management and ineffective schemes was at the center of it. Yet reports keep surfacing that ownership is hesitant to move on mostly due to money concerns.
The Bulls commentator and three-time champion doesn’t believe it’s that simple though. Part of the problem is Karnisovas wants to see Boylen in action and the team hasn’t been allowed to play any games. However, there was another point King made on the Sharp Shooters podcast that continues to get glossed over.
Even if the team does want to make a move, it would be pointless because most of the top candidates can’t talk to them.
“You also got to remember too there’s coaches they may be looking at right now that are on other people’s teams that are playing in this bubble. So they can’t contact those people or talk to anyone until basically the season’s over. Unless the team gets knocked out, they can’t do anything. So right now they’re doing their due diligence and just seeing what they have here evaluating him from a day to day basis.”
Jim Boylen is benefiting from COVID-19 more than anybody
It’s crazy how the crippling nature of COVID-19 can actually have unintended consequences. If Boylen had finished out this past season normally, would he still have a job now? That sense of unfinished business is actually working to his advantage because it provides an excuse.
Then again, maybe the Bulls just want to wait for their chance to meet with replacements they like.
Remember this. While the team hasn’t fired Boylen, they also haven’t publicly declared he will remain the head coach next season. That is an important point. It signals that Karnisovas isn’t as resigned to his situation as people might think.
The Bulls have been linked to two NBA assistant coaches in the past couple of months. Ime Udoka is a former player who transitioned to coaching in 2012. He helped the San Antonio Spurs win a championship in 2013 and went to Philadelphia in 2019. The 76ers are projected to hold the 6th seed going into the playoffs.
Then there is Adrian Griffin.
A former Bulls assistant under Tom Thibodeau, he ended up with the Toronto Raptors by 2018 and helped them win the NBA championship last season. They sit at 2nd place in the East going into the playoffs. So neither men are likely to be available for some time.
So Chicago can do nothing but wait, which is the hardest part.