On Friday, reporting from Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN shared a new update on the Chicago Bulls’ head coach search to replace Billy Donovan.
"Chicago, which last month hired former Atlanta Hawks executive Bryson Graham as its new head of basketball operations, appears to be the closest to landing on a hire, having interviewed Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter, Hawks assistant coach Ryan Schmidt and current Bulls assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr."Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, ESPN
Bulls lead front office executive Bryson Graham’s journey to hire his first head coach has been expansive and reportedly has been whittled down to four finalist interviews that Windhorst and Bontemps confirmed as complete in their reporting.
With less than two weeks remaining before the 2026 NBA Draft starts, it’s likely a top priority for the Bulls to get their new head coach in-house to get that person installed into the Bulls’ pre-draft process as soon as possible.
Setting expectations for the next Bulls head coach
To some Bulls fans, the head coach finalist slate of Nori, Splitter, Schmidt, and Unseld Jr. may not inspire the enthusiasm of a bigger-name, established NBA head coach. However, the next 82 regular-season games the Bulls will play are likely to be low-stakes hoops if the Bulls roster two 2026 NBA first-round picks and two second-round picks.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that all four Bulls head coach candidate finalists have varying degrees of an NBA player development background. The mission ahead for this Bulls roster is to develop talent, not win games.
The next Bulls head coach’s X and O schemes matter less than their ability to hold young players accountable for achieving their development goals, installing a team culture, or quickly figuring out if there are players on the roster who simply aren’t “it”.
For context, the last two NBA championship head coaches in Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla rose through the coaching ranks as NBA G-League coaches who are elite head coaches largely for their work AFTER getting hired into the big NBA head coach seat as opposed to what they did before they became an NBA main roster head coach.
That’s not to suggest the Bulls should expect their next head coach to grow into an elite head coach, rather there shouldn’t be a default feeling of the Bulls hiring a substandard NBA head coach just because their name isn’t already known on a mass scale.
Best case, Bryson Graham may be able to hire a Daigenault-type head coach that evolves as the Bulls roster improves. Worst case, Graham hires a coach that transforms one of Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey, or the fourth overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft into an NBA All-Star and is replaced after their third or fourth NBA season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google