The Chicago Bulls would love to be where the San Antonio Spurs are right now. They may not have Victor Wembanyama to lead them there, but they can land one of Wemby’s most valuable companions if they hire Sean Sweeney to be their next head coach.
The Bulls have an opening on their bench after Billy Donovan stepped down following the clearing of the team’s front office. New executive VP of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, has made some important hirings, but he has yet to fill that vacancy with barely a month left until the 2026 NBA Draft.
Sweeney has built an impressive resume, but it’s his work with the Spurs that should have him at the top of Graham’s wishlist.
Sean Sweeney just made his case to be Bulls next head coach
San Antonio’s dramatic double overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is a microcosm of the impact Sweeney has had with the Spurs.
As Mitch Johnson’s defensive coordinator, the 41-year-old took San Antonio’s bottom-10 defense a year ago and morphed it into one that allowed 111.5 points per game this season, eighth-best in the league. And it’s not just because Wembanyama is a 7-foot-4 alien.
Sweeney was the architect of a defense that held the defending champion Thunder to 115 points in 58 minutes in their Game 1 win.
Before the contest went into double OT, Oklahoma City had only scored 101 — the same Oklahoma City team that leads the NBA in scoring this postseason (120.6 ppg) and finished fifth (119.0 ppg) in the regular season.
Two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished the first half with four points. He ended the night shooting 7-for-23 from the field.
Graham is "poised to ramp up" his search for a new head coach, according to Jake Fischer. The league insider, via The Stein Line Substack (subscription required), dubbed Sweeney an "in-demand" coach and "a prime candidate for Chicago's opening."
Bulls can’t afford to whiff on their next head coach
Fischer mentions Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Oklahoma City’s Dave Bliss, former Hornets and Pelicans’ head coach James Borrego, current Trail Blazers head man Tiago Splitter and Wes Unseld Jr., a member of Donovan’s staff in the previous regime, as other options under consideration.
With $55 million in available cap space this summer, the Nos. 4 and 15 picks in a stacked draft class and the opportunity to help build a roster essentially from scratch, the Bulls’ job should be plenty attractive.
Each of those candidates comes with their own strengths, but Sweeney’s proven defensive acumen and contribution to winning at an elite level make him the right person to lead the Bulls' next era.
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