Bulls rumors: Team wants to see Jim Boylen interact with players before firing

Though it appears Jim Boylen may be on the way out, Chicago Bulls rumors dictate that the team wants the seson to return to fairly evaluate the head coach

The Chicago Bulls have officially kicked off the next era in franchise history, embarking on a new journey with Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas. Karnisovas’s first directive was hiring a general manager — Marc Eversley from the Philadelphia 76ers.

Things are changing in Chicago, that much is certain.

With a new regime comes changes and adjustments, chief among them being the evaluation of head coach Jim Boylen.

Fans have made it clear — They want Boylen gone. Since taking over for Fred Hoiberg in the 2018-19 season, Boylen has implemented a strict training and practice regimen (including a time clock for salaried multimillionaires) and struggled to connect with his young team.

The tension between the contingency of players and the coaching staff has been noticeably thick, and the logical line of thinking would be for the new executive team to roll in a new coaching staff that can connect with the roster being built in Chicago.

According to recent Bulls rumors, the executive team is hoping the season resumes so they can at least give head coach Jim Boylen a fair look, though it does seem as though the coaching staff is bracing to be pushed out.

Speaking to Dan Bernstein, Jow Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times mentioned the executive team wants to see Boylen interact firsthand with players.

"“I wouldn’t say there’s a coaching search going on. The ideal situation I think is Arturas and Marc Eversley both would love for somehow the NBA for facilities to open allow some kind of interaction with coach and player so they can say, ‘hey, we respect Michael Reinsdorf and Jerry Reinsdorf and Jon Paxson’s opinions on Jim Boylen. We were able to actually sit down and put eyes on him and watch his interaction with players,’ or whether it’s five games or ten games, just some kind of sample size where they can say, ‘in our assessment it’s smart for all of us to move on with an entirely new coaching staff.’ That’s the ideal situation, because I think then they can say, ‘we fairly gave an evaluation.’”"

Though nothing is official, Cowley mentions some members of the staff have essentially assumed for themselves that their time in Chicago is done:

"“And there’s members of the coaching staff right now that feel that way because there are a couple that I know personally that have already checked out or are already looking on other jobs … so they kind of feel the decision is made.”"

Some fans might read this and think it’s illogical to wait on firing Boylen and that there’s enough evidence out there to suggest that Boylen should be fired already. After all, the executive team can call players up and get honest feedback on Boylen and his direction, or simply scan some of his rotations, decisions, and game-planning methods.

He’s not been good, it’s pretty cut and dry.

That said, at the moment there isn’t much action going on with coaching hires. There are plenty of high-quality available coaches out there, and until the NBA opens things back up in full-force and provides a route to closure on the NBA season, it’s unlikely that teams start doing coaching interviews and hires. That, and if the season does return, having to come back with an interim coach for just a few weeks might not be a good transitional phase for the team as they enter a new era.

Though it’s likely the decision on Boylen’s future has been all but confirmed, due diligence and making sure he gets a fair shot to prove himself in front of the new executive team won’t hurt.