Chicago Bulls hire former Sixers assistant John Bryant

The Chicago Bulls look to have found their newest assistant coaching hire with former Sixers assistant/player development coach John Bryant.

The retooling of the Chicago Bulls coaching staff looks to now be underway, as former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach got one of his initial additions this week. After the news came within the last month that Donovan was set to part ways with a good portion of the former Bulls staff at hand, the process was underway to find what’s next amid his assistant hires.

Some of the notable departures from the Bulls coaching staff earlier in the offseason included Roy Rogers and Karen Stack Umlauf. Donovan did decide to retain the former Brooklyn Nets assistant and the offensively minded second-year Bulls coach Chris Fleming.

He made a solid addition to the staff reportedly on Oct. 29, by hiring former Philadelphia 76ers assistant and player development coach John Bryant. The two-year assistant/player development coach of the Sixers was brought on board under former Philly head coach Brett Brown entering the 2018-19 season officially as an assistant coach.

Bryant had been promoted from his previous role which was solely as a player development coach. He was hired to fill that role on the Sixers staff heading into the 2016-17 season. Prior to landing that job with the Sixers, Bryant was coaching down in the G-League, with the Delaware 87ers. He started with the 87ers heading into the 2014-15 season.

Another notable position that Bryant held was on staff with the Nigerian National Team in 2016-17.

There could be a connection here between the newly hired Bulls general manager and former Sixers senior vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley. They were in the same organization for a couple of years.

But it looks like Bryant opted not to stay on the Sixers staff after they parted ways with Brown, and then hired former Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.

The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43 under the direction of now former head coach Jim Boylen. Donovan took over back on Sep. 22 following a record that Boylen posted of 39-84 over the course of his two years as Bulls head coach.