The Chicago Bulls are looking for a new head coach and it appears former Brooklyn Nets mentor Kenny Atkinson is at the top of the list. The Bulls do have a lot of other names they are considering although the majority are assistant coaches.
According to ESPN, Atkinson is a strong front runner to get the nod. Atkinson made a good account of himself the past years for the Nets until the arrival of top stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. There have been claims that both NBA superstars had a hand in the axing of Atkinson though these were shot down.
Other than Atkinson, Bulls' management has a long list of other candidates. Other names include Darvin Ham who is currently serving as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. Other assistant coaches mentioned include Wes Unseld Jr. of the Denver Nuggets and Dan Craig of the Miami Heat.
Candidates that Chicago can already talk to now are the ones whose teams are already out of the NBA bubble. The list includes Jamahl Mosley and Stephen Silas of the Dallas Mavericks and Ime Udoka of the Philadelphia 76ers. Another name reportedly in consideration is David Vanterpool of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Aside from the names from other teams, the Bulls are also considering some names internally. Chris Fleming and Roy Rogers are in the running, two coaches that served under Boylen.
It will be a busy summer for the Bulls with VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley overseeing the team overhaul. Boylen was tipped to be replaced from the start despite guiding the Bulls to a respectable record with most players out of action last NBA season.
Chicago missed the postseason wars for the third straight season, managing to finish only with a 22-43 win-loss card over in the Eastern Conference. There are a lot of high profile coaches available in the market but Karnisovas appears to be carefully checking them out one by one.
The Bulls do have a lot of talented players in their mix such as Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter and Coby White. Kris Dunn is another big name although there are rumors that he could be on his way out. Thaddeus Young could also be dealt away with the Bulls opting to get someone younger.
Whoever is installed as the next Bulls coach, the road ahead will be rough. They do have the pieces but rebuilding once more to perform better will not be easy for the embattled franchise.
