Chicago Bulls: 3 players that benefited most from Boylen as HC

Who were three of the Chicago Bulls players over the course of the last two years that surprised and actually benefited some playing under Jim Boylen?

Among the best pieces of news that the Chicago Bulls fan base received so far this offseason, outside of all of the much-needed front office changes back in spring, was the departure of now former head coach Jim Boylen. The Bulls elected to part ways with Boylen after two years at the helm as head coach officially back on Aug. 14.

And it wouldn’t be all that long before the Bulls found a proven winner as their next head coaching hire to replace Boylen. Former Oklahoma City Thunder and Florida Gators hoops head coach Billy Donovan was hired on a four-year contract worth just under $25 million last month to try and get this rebuild going in the right direction heading into its fourth year.

The Bulls didn’t make much progress for this rebuild during the shortened 2019-20 regular season. They registered a record of 22-43 through 65 games prior to the pause. That was good to place the Bulls in 11th place in the final Eastern Conference standings to round out this odd 2019-20 season.

Boylen himself registered a record of 39-84 in his two years at the helm in the Windy City. He didn’t get the Bulls even close to making the playoffs in either of his two seasons as head coach. Boylen originally took over after the departure of former head coach Fred Hoiberg back in December 2018. The Bulls even handed Boylen an unwarranted contract extension last offseason.

However, it wasn’t all bad for every single player that Boylen coached up during his two years as Bulls head coach. It might’ve just been a product of the situation, but there were some players that actually elevated their play under Boylen’s direction. Here’s a look at three individually that were pretty good under Boylen in the last two seasons.