Chicago Bulls: 3 reasons Kenny Atkinson would be perfect HC candidate

3. His development of the Nets last season

A commonality that would be great for the Bulls to exploit if they were to hire Atkinson to replace Boylen as head coach is developing the young core like he did in Brooklyn. Atkinson did a great job to improve the Nets in nearly every single season he was their head coach. He went from getting the Nets 21 games under .500 in his first season at the helm, to two games over last season. That was a huge difference in a span of just three seasons.

The Nets were possibly the most surprising team to make the playoffs in the East last season. He pushed the likes of star point guard D’Angelo Russell and standout big man Jarrett Allen to lead the Nets to post a record of 42-40, and really get that talented young core to gel together.

But the Nets would end up jumping ship on the idea of building around D-Lo and the rest of that young core last offseason, when the opportunity presented itself to sign superstar point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Durant out of free agency. That did seem like a smart move for the Nets still.

What Atkinson did with the Nets during the 2018-19 season is worth noticing and learning from. The Bulls have a team that could be in a similar situation building around someone like rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine, compared with he Nets building around D-Lo last season. LaVine could finally get the head coach he needs to take that next step.

There is also a connection that could be attractive to Atkinson in the Windy City with assistant coach Chris Fleming. The assistant who runs a lot of the offensive schemes for Boylen, Fleming, is a coach worth keeping on staff no matter what happens to the head coach through the offseason. Fleming and former Houston Rockets assistant Roy Rogers are likely both worth keeping on staff.