The Chicago Bulls have undergone a major overhaul at the top in the past couple of months. John Paxson is out. Gar Forman is out. Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley are in. Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf both made it clear they are the ones running the show. All basketball-related decisions belong to them. This includes the fate of embattled head coach Jim Boylen. Reports have come out for some time that despite the major turnovers, the second-year coach feels pretty confident about his odds of staying in charge.
Apparently a lot of people around him are hoping that’s not the case. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Boylen has his supporters in Paxson and the Reinsdorfs. The same can’t be said for everybody else in the organization. Players and other team personnel are lukewarm on him at best. Not exactly the ringing endorsement Karnisovas and Eversley were looking for. This has built up momentum to where it’s believed they are likely to make a change once it’s clear whether the 2020 season will continue in the NBA.
“However, the Sun-Times has learned that things are staying vague for a reason. Ownership, as well as former vice president of basketball operations-turned-advisor, John Paxson, would like Boylen back and have told the coach as much.
Newly named head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have already had detailed discussions with players and retained personnel, however, and are getting enough of a mixed bag of feedback of what’s gone on the last year that they are leaning toward starting with a new coach of their choosing and moving on from Boylen once a decision on the season is made by the league, according to a source.”
Chicago Bulls didn’t see any results from Jim Boylen
From the start, both Karnisovas and Eversley stated that their primary desire from a head coach is player development. Being able to make a talent better than what he was when he arrived with the team. Just looking at Boylen’s tenure, this has not happened. With the exception of Zach Lavine, no player under his watch took a significant step up in his productivity. Combine that with an ongoing bout of losing punctuated by lots and lots of puzzling game-time decisions? It’s hardly a shock the coach didn’t have a lot of supporters in the locker room.
The smart decision is to wipe the slate clean. Start fresh with new eyes on the situation. There just doesn’t seem to be any sort of upside with keeping Boylen in charge. The stink on him is way too strong at this point. Not to mention the fact there are some quality coaching options out there to be had. Adrian Griffin and Kenny Atkinson topping the list. If the Bulls are searching for credibility, then they need to move on.
