Chicago Bulls: Heat assistant Dan Craig has traction for HC job

A deep dive search for the Chicago Bulls head coaching job could’ve landed them on Miami Heat long-time assistant coach Dan Craig.

There appears to be another candidate that could be in line for the Chicago Bulls head coaching position, that remained open for about the last three weeks now. The Bulls head coach job opening first came about on Aug. 14, when they officially parted ways with now former head coach Jim Boylen.

That aforementioned new name that is apparently emerging in the Bulls head coaching search heading into the weekend was the Miami Heat assistant coach Dan Craig. Back on Sep. 2, it was reported (Sun-Sentinel) that the Bulls were granted permission by the Heat to interview Craig in the first place.

This isn’t the first time that Craig’s name appeared in some portion of the Bulls coaching search, his candidacy just hadn’t reached the new level of traction that it might have of late. It would seem as if Craig at least would have already interviewed, or spoken in depth with, the Bulls new front office regime once.

Craig served on staff with the Heat under head coach Erik Spoelstra since the start of the 2016-17 season. Prior to landing that assistant coaching role on staff with the Heat, Craig was a head coach with the G-League Sioux Falls Skyforce during the 2015-16 season. He received the G-League Coach of the Year honors in that one season with the Skyforce.

Even before he was the Coach of the Year in the G-League in 2015-16, Craig was back on staff as an assistant with the Heat. He also held a role as the director of player development in 2014-15. He was a player development coach from 2011-2014.

Craig really worked his way up through the Heat organization over the last 18 years or so. In the 2000’s, he served in multiple roles with the Heat, including video coordinator, and video intern. He first started as a video intern with the Heat back during the 2003-04 season.

He has been a part of three NBA Championships with the Heat, with the first coming in 2006. There were a few roles that he held at the college level in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, but those were mostly intern and graduate assistant type jobs.

Craig would certainly be an interesting younger head coaching candidate for the Bulls to consider. He isn’t even 40 years old yet, and definitely impressively worked his way up to where he is now within the Heat organization.