2. The Bulls could snatch him up off a fluke departure
As already mentioned, it does make sense that the Nets front office does whatever they can to support the intentions of the superstar combination that is Kyrie and KD. The Nets put in so much work last offseason to get D-Lo out of Brooklyn to be able to sign Kyrie from the Boston Celtics and KD from the Golden State Warriors.
Although Atkinson wasn’t having his best season in terms of record with the Nets, they were still sitting in a playoff spot in the East. The Nets held a record of 28-34 through just over 60 games when he saw the door. He was making it work anyway he could with the likes of former Bulls point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and shooting guard/wing Caris LeVert leading the way for most of the season.
KD didn’t play in a single game this season due to a torn achilles he suffered with the Warriors during their NBA Finals run last year. And Kyrie played in less than one-third of the overall games that the Nets had in the season that is still on pause. Kyrie dealt with an upper-body injury for much of the 2019-20 regular season.
Considering Atkinson still did well enough to keep the Nets in playoff contention, despite all of their injury issues, he deserves some recognition and backing for a potential Bulls job opening. The Bulls should also move quick on Atkinson before some other team with an opening, like the Cleveland Cavaliers or New York Knicks, makes it a point to hire him away.