Current Chicago Bulls assistant coach Chris Fleming could be a legitimate consideration for the next head coach to replace Jim Boylen.
It appears that the Chicago Bulls are now looking to the ranks of touted current NBA assistant coaches to find their next head coaching hire. Back on Aug. 14, the Bulls parted ways with now former head coach Jim Boylen after roughly two seasons at the helm. Boylen had originally taken over as the interim after the firing of former head coach Fred Hoiberg in December 2018.
During his two years as the Bulls head coach, Boylen registered a record of 39-84. He did not get the Bulls into the playoffs either year. And he finished up the 2019-20 regular season, after the first 65 games, with a record of 22-43. That was good to place the Bulls 11th in the Eastern Conference standings at the pause back in mid-March.
Now that Boylen is out of the head coaching role with the Bulls, the next search to find the right candidate is officially underway. But it feels like this will be a rather slow and patient process undertaken by former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas and former Philadelphia 76ers senior vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley to find their next head coaching hire.
It sounds like Karnisovas and Eversley are now sorting through the options they have among current NBA assistant coaches heading into the month of September (per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski). One of those assistant coaches that is being considered is on the current Bulls staff.
Another name that popped up here was a fellow Bulls assistant coach, formerly of the Houston Rockets, Roy Rogers.
ESPN story on the assistant coaches granted permission to interview for the Chicago Bulls' head coaching vacancy: https://t.co/lARTkV4jQt
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2020
The Bulls hired Fleming away from the Brooklyn Nets last offseason. And Rogers was brought back to the former team he played for during his NBA career. But Fleming seems like the more likely of the two to get actual consideration for the head coaching job.
Fleming could have a head coaching job in his future. He’s made a big impact in past stops as an assistant (mainly with his offensive genius) with the Nets, Denver Nuggets, and overseas.
Another coaching candidate that is frequently mentioned in connection with the Bulls head coaching job is Kenny Atkinson. The former Nets head coach was employing Fleming on the staff in Brooklyn for a few years.
Other names mentioned in connection with the Bulls head coaching job in that piece from Woj was the Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Philadelphia 76ers lead assistant Ime Udoka, and Minnesota Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool.