2) Former NBA coaches that could be Chicago Bulls next HC: Kenny Atkinson
A name that is pretty often mentioned in connection with the Bulls head coaching job at this point of the offseason is the former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. The Nets likely parted ways with Atkinson a bit too early, but that is just a reality of holding that role with a forming superteam like the Nets have with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
At the outset of the Bulls coaching search, it looked like Atkinson was one of the absolute slam dunk candidates that was available. It also almost seemed like Atkinson was such a solid head coaching candidate that if the Bulls didn’t snag him soon he might get hired elsewhere. But that has yet to be the case so far.
Atkinson was great at developing all of those young Nets teams the last couple of years. Even as the Nets were dealing with a load of injury issues while he was still with the team during the 2019-20 season, he impressively worked through the challenges and kept them in playoff position. That is the type of presence that the Bulls could use around moving forward.
During his four years as the Nets head coach, Atkinson held a record in the regular season of 118-190. But the Nets improved in each of his full three years at the helm in Brooklyn. They even made the playoffs last year, just to be ousted in the first round.
Atkinson proved before that he could jolt a young team with some potential to come out of nowhere in the East, which is something the Bulls could really use heading into the fourth year of the rebuild.