Chicago Bulls: 3 early coaching candidates to replace Boylen

3. David Vanterpool

Shams Charania of The Athletic reportedly had a few other potential names surface in the Bulls early head coaching search to replace Boylen. And one of the more interesting names on that list was David Vanterpool. The current Minnesota Timberwolves assistant and associate head coach had an interesting rise up the NBA coaching ranks in the last few years.

https://twitter.com/theathleticnba/status/1294314371271843840?s=21

Vanterpool started to make his name known in the NBA coaching ranks during his time on staff with Terry Stotts and the Trail Blazers. He was even the interim head coach for a stretch during the 2016-17 season. He was a top assistant on the Trail Blazers coaching staff until he left Portland for Minnesota last year.

Originally hired with the Trail Blazers coaching staff entering the 2012-13 season, Vanterpool was there in Portland to oversee the development of both star point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum throughout the 2010’s. He was also present on the Timberwolves coaching staff to see guard D’Angelo Russell have a bounce back season in the Twin Cities after getting traded from the Golden State Warriors.

A product of the St. Bonaventure basketball program, Vanterpool had a short lived stint in the NBA. He played in one season with the Washington Wizards, in just 22 games during the 2000-01 campaign.

Outside of his playing and most of his NBA coaching experience, there are a few interesting nuggets about Vanterpool. He was hired as the Oklahoma City Thunder director of player personnel in 2010, which is a position he held for three years. He also started his professional basketball coaching career with CSKA Moscow back in 2007.

At one point he even served on the same coaching staff for the Canadian men’s basketball National Team in 2015 along with Boylen.