Friday, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported via social media that the Chicago Bulls had been granted permission to interview Miami Heat associate head coach Chris Quinn for their vacant head coach position.
The Heat has granted the Bulls permission to interview longtime Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn for the franchise’s head coaching job, according to a source.
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) May 22, 2026
Quinn’s candidacy for the Bulls' head coach seat is strong, given his extensive player development pedigree that began at the college level, where he served as the director of player development for Northwestern University’s men’s basketball team during the 2013-14 NCAA basketball season. Subsequently, Quinn was hired by the NBA team, where he made his league debut as a player with the Miami Heat in September 2014.
Quinn’s 12-season tenure with the Heat has been marked by his and the team’s growth in this span. Quinn’s Heat coaching tenure evolved from initially serving as the Heat’s assistant coach - player development and assistant coach to the Heat’s NBA G-League team, the Sioux Falls Sky Force, to serving as the Heat’s director of player development, to a promotion to his current role as Heat associate head coach in the 2024 NBA offseason.
‘Heat Culture’ persisting as the generally accepted brand name for the Heat’s on-court product is as attributable to Chris Quinn’s presence on Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff as any single player addition the Miami Heat executed since LeBron James exit from the Heat after winning two NBA titles with the franchise in 2012 and 2013.
Chris Quinn is the gold standard of NBA player development
The reporting signals emerging about the Bulls' EVP of basketball operations, Bryson Graham’s head coach search appears to surface a recurring theme of player development experience within their candidates. Chris Quinn represents perhaps one of the most noteworthy NBA player development authorities of the last 10 years.
The Heat have made two trips to the NBA Finals in their post-Lebron James era (2020 and 2023), and a prominent storyline in both Finals runs is the high-leverage contributions those Heat rosters received from two-way contract developments success stories in now-Detroit Pistons wing Duncan Robinson, now-Atlanta Hawks guard Gabe Vincent, and now-Cleveland Cavaliers wing Max Strus.
It’s also worth noting that a familiar Bulls face, Derrick Jones Jr., is a former two-way contract product of the Heat’s development program, which allowed him to progress his career through stops with the Portland Trail Blazers and Bulls before becoming a playoff riser on the Dallas Mavericks' 2024 NBA Finals roster.
The prospect of building a powerhouse player development program mid-rebuild that can deliver the Bulls' high-value, low-cost roster additions on the margins may be the deciding factor that wins the Bulls' head coach job for Chris Quinn.
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