The Bulls are casting in a wide net in their search for a new head coach, reportedly talking to at least a dozen names about the position. One of those candidates is no longer available after Spurs top assistant Sean Sweeney was hired to be the Magic‘s new top coach.
League sources tell Jake Fischer and Marc Stein Line (Substack link) that Sweeney ranked highly on Chicago’s initial list of candidates, and Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints has heard similarly (Twitter link).
Chicago is expected to have a list of finalists for the job by “early next week at the latest,” according to Fischer and Stein, who report that current assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. is expected to be part of that group.
Unseld, 50, has been the Bulls’ top assistant for the past two seasons under Billy Donovan, who decided to part ways with the organization about a week after the 2025/26 season ended. Unseld was previously the Wizards’ head coach for two-and-a-half seasons and was an assistant for 16 years before that.
In addition to Unseld, Siegel states that Chris Quinn (Heat) and Micah Nori (Timberwolves) are still candidates for Chicago’s head coaching job. Fischer and Stein also mentioned Nori — a finalist in Portland’s search — in connection to the Bulls’ opening.
The Bulls’ search is being led by new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham, but former top executive John Paxson, who is now a senior advisor, has also been part of the interview process, per Fischer and Stein.
This would be the most uninspiring under the radar inexpensive retread hire they could come up with.
Nothing against coach Unseld, but wow, this would be two years of treading water and going nowhere.
I’m unsold.
He can be a finalist as long as he doesn’t get the job.
Yes, I think this is true. Bulls are in a weird situation with Unseld. In a sense, he provided the impetus that got Karnisovas fired. Unseld got a chance to coach the Bulls when Donovan’s father died and Billy took a game off. Jaden Ivey picked that game to act out, and Unseld decided not to play him. Ivey was in the news for weeks, and raised questions about why AK traded for him in the first place.
So I don’t think Bulls want to make Unseld a pariah for that whole situation. On the other hand, he really didn’t handle Ivey’s benching very well, misdirected the situation to reporters after the game, and brought a lot of pressure on Donovan and Karnisovas (and eventually Reinsdorf) as a result. The best ending for the Bulls would be that he goes away on good terms.
Yeah, because he did such a great job in Washington.
Where are Red Holzman Jr and Red Auerbach Jr? Jerry Sloan Jr? My favorite was Scott Layden, Frank’s son, who single-handedly destroyed the Knicks.