Wes Unseld Jr. To Be Finalist For Bulls’ Head Coaching Job?
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 on track 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.
Mavericks Notes: Finley, Nori, Pre-Draft Workouts
After the Mavericks hired Masai Ujiri as their new president and Mike Schmitz to be their general manager, word broke that Matt Riccardi, who served as the team’s co-interim GM during the 2025/26 season, would be leaving the organization. There have been no such updates on Michael Finley, who was the Mavs’ other co-interim GM following Nico Harrison‘s dismissal in the fall.
Finley spent nearly nine years in Dallas as a player and has been part of the club’s front office since 2017. Minority stakeholder Mark Cuban, the majority owner of the team when Finley was originally hired, hopes the former guard’s stint in the basketball operations department continues — and has said as much to Ujiri.
“(Finley) is our legacy guy,” Cuban said during a special episode of the House of Haymaker show with Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade. “You need somebody there that’s a connection to the past and knows everybody, that has been there a while. … My strong recommendation (to Ujiri) is that you keep Michael Finley.”
According to Cuban, Ujiri didn’t commit one way or the other to his plans for Finley and the rest of the front office.
“(He) just said, ‘Thank you,’ and that was it,” Cuban said.
Cuban also spoke during his House of Haymaker appearance about the Luka Doncic trade – which he said Finley called “the wrong thing to do” – and the fact that Dirk Nowitzki “didn’t agree with” the 2021 hiring of Harrison, among other topics.
We have more on the Mavericks:
- Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Tuesday, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori said he hadn’t “heard anything really” from the Mavericks about their head coaching opening so far, but had engaged in “a few conversations here and there” with the Trail Blazers and Bulls, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal relays. Although Nori added that his discussions with those teams hadn’t gotten “too serious” at that point, one report today suggested he’s a finalist for Portland’s head coaching job and that Dallas also has interest in interviewing him.
- Obi Agbim (Baylor), Michael Ajayi (Butler), Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), Tucker DeVries (Indiana), and Wyatt Fricks (Marshall) were in town on Wednesday to work out for the Mavericks, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Of those five players, Anderson is the most noteworthy — he’s a projected first-round pick who ranks 18th overall on ESPN’s big board.
- The Mavericks are currently armed with the ninth, 30th, and 48th overall picks in this month’s draft. In an effort to get a better sense for which players the team might be eyeing at those spots, Curtis (subscription required) takes a closer look at Ujiri’s draft history during his time in Denver and Toronto. Based on those past draft results, Curtis writes that Ujiri has shown a willingness to take a shot on versatile wings who can score and defend, as well as international prospects and score-first guards.
Blazers Down To Three Head Coaching Finalists?
The Trail Blazers are still considering three candidates for their head coaching vacancy, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
The finalists who remain in the running, per Fischer and Stein, are Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook, and Portland’s own interim coach Tiago Splitter.
Those coaches were identified last month as three of the five finalists for the Blazers’ job, along with Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy and Jazz assistant Mike Williams. Sources tell The Stein Line that Van Gundy and Williams didn’t advance to the final stage of Portland’s head coaching search.
Assuming another finalist isn’t added to the mix at the 11th hour, it sounds like one of Nori, Lashbrook, or Splitter will become the Trail Blazers’ permanent head coach. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean a decision is imminent.
As Fischer and Stein explain, Portland’s process has been slowed to some extent by the Carolina Hurricanes’ run to the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals. Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon also owns the Hurricanes, who will be looking to get on the board in their series against Las Vegas on Thursday after losing Game 1 on Tuesday.
The Trail Blazers’ coaching search began before their season was over, with Dundon reaching out to candidates while Splitter was attempting to get his team past San Antonio in the first round. Portland technically still hasn’t formally parted ways with Chauncey Billups, who opened the 2025/26 season on the team’s bench, but he was arrested in October in connection with an illegal gambling investigation and isn’t expected to ever coach another game for the Blazers.
Splitter, initially an assistant under Billups, took over one game into the regular season and led the Blazers to a 42-39 record the rest of the way. The team earned the No. 7 seed with a play-in win over Phoenix and then fell to the Spurs in five games in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Dundon’s decision to look for Splitter’s potential replacement before the season ended reportedly rubbed some potential targets the wrong way, and rumors that the new Blazers owner was looking to pay his new coach a salary well below the going rate likely didn’t help matters, though the team pushed back on those reports.
For what it’s worth, neither Nori nor Lashbrook has NBA head coaching experience, and Splitter’s stint filling in for Billups this season represented his first NBA head coaching job. In other words, it’s unlikely that any of those three candidates would have the leverage to negotiate a high-end salary.
Latest On Mavericks’ Head Coaching Search
We haven’t heard much about the Mavericks‘ head coaching search in the two-plus weeks since the team parted ways with Jason Kidd, but league sources tell Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that Dallas has begun seeking permission to speak to candidates for the job.
The expectation, according to Fischer and Stein, is that the Mavs will interview a dozen or so candidates before making a decision.
Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, Raptors assistant Jama Mahlalela, Celtics assistant Tony Dobbins, and Heat consultant Noah LaRoche are among the coaches the Mavericks have either already registered interest in or plan to reach out to soon, sources tell The Stein Line.
Veteran coach Terry Stotts, who isn’t remaining in his position on Steve Kerr‘s staff in Golden State, is also expected to interview for the position, Fischer and Stein add, noting that Stotts – who has previous head coaching experience with Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Portland – currently only has interest in head coaching jobs.
Former Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney was among the potential targets on Dallas’ radar, but he was already far down the road on a deal with the Magic by the time the Mavs reached out and has since been officially hired by Orlando, per The Stein Line.
While the most likely outcome is that the Mavericks hire a coach from the NBA ranks, there have been some exploratory conversations to see whether college coaches like Duke’s Jon Scheyer, who previously coached Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, or Michigan’s Dusty May would have any interest in the Dallas job, Fischer and Stein report. For what it’s worth, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints previously reported that Scheyer is “fully locked in” with the Blue Devils and isn’t interested in leaving Duke at this time, so he’s unlikely to emerge as a legitimate candidate for the Mavs.
According to Fischer and Stein, there’s an expectation that new Mavs president Masai Ujiri, who hired Darko Rajakovic in Toronto, will keep an eye on European options and perhaps explore potential options in the women’s game as well.
Ujiri, who was hired by the Mavs earlier this spring, said in May that he expects the coaching search to be “very comprehesive” and to turn over “every stone.”
“I think our minds are very open,” Ujiri said at the time. “We’re going to look everywhere. …We will really try to look at what’s best for this organization, be it first-time, be it experienced, be it college, be it European. Everywhere. Whatever is best for this organization going forward is what we are going to look at.”
Fischer/Stein’s Latest: Sweeney, Sixers, Snyder, Harden, Bulls
A league source tells Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Magic are “very interested” in hiring Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney to fill their head coaching vacancy. Orlando officials were planning a trip to San Antonio this week to interview Sweeney during the Western Conference finals, according to the authors.
Sweeney, who’s in his first season with the Spurs, is considered the architect of the team’s aggressive defense that has helped to fuel this year’s playoff run. The Magic were perennially among the league’s best defensive teams under Jamahl Mosley, so the infrastructure is already in place for Sweeney to succeed.
Former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and current Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy are the only candidates reported to have interviewed for the Magic opening since Mosley was fired May 4. Sweeney has also been linked to the head coaching vacancies in Chicago and Dallas.
Fischer and Stein share more inside information from around the league:
- Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey and Phoenix Mercury GM Nick U’Ren recently had interviews in Philadelphia to become the Sixers‘ head of basketball operations. Sources tell Fischer and Stein that Gansey and Sixers assistant GM Jameer Nelson are considered the leading candidates for the position.
- An extension for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder has been considered “inevitable” since the team’s playoff run ended, according to Fischer and Stein. They cite regular season rumors that Snyder could have been a potential candidate to replace Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland, but sources tell them that Atkinson was always expected to remain with the Cavaliers for a third season.
- Fischer and Stein’s sources also say the Cavaliers are optimistic about re-signing James Harden to a multiyear deal with a lower annual salary than the $39.4MM he made this season. “Rough early estimates” are in the range of $30MM per year, which could help the team escape the second apron.
- The Bulls are closer than the Mavericks to completing their head coaching search, but they’re still talking to several prospects, according to Fischer and Stein. Known candidates so far include Minnesota’s Micah Nori, Miami’s Chris Quinn, Cleveland’s Johnnie Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Dave Bliss and former New Orleans interim coach James Borrego. Nori is also a finalist for the Trail Blazers‘ opening, along with Van Gundy, Boston’s Tyler Lashbrook, Utah’s Mike Williams and acting head coach Tiago Splitter.
Southwest Notes: Coward, Mosley, M. Brown, Mavericks
Cedric Coward was among the biggest surprises in a talented rookie class, earning First-Team All-Rookie honors after being selected with the 11th pick in last year’s draft. In an interview with Mark Medina of R.org, the Grizzlies forward spoke about the constant need to improve, which is why he’ll be returning to the Las Vegas Summer League in July.
“One, I want to keep growing my game,” Coward said. “Two, I want to let the team know that no matter what I got to do, whether it’s play in Summer League or in training camp, I’m going to be there to do it. It’s something that they wanted me to do. It’s something that I didn’t have any problem doing. For me, it allows me to maximize my game, too, and work on things that I didn’t do as much this past season. I’ve been working on that this summer. Also, I’m trying to win. It’s the competitiveness.”
Coward addresses several topics in the interview, including his encounters with veterans on other teams, the recent death of teammate Brandon Clarke and the public perception of Ja Morant. Coward calls Morant “one of the best people that I know personally” and says he provided a lot of help with making the adjustment to the NBA.
“He showed me different things in the game that I can take advantage of that can help him,” Coward said. “He provides the most gravity on the court when he’s playing. So for me, it’s about being in the right spots offensively and defensively. I remember one day, I grabbed the ball and they took it out and passed to me. I looked for him. He came up to me and said, ‘Why don’t you dribble the ball up?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I got you.’ It’s certain things like that where he’s making sure he can make the game easier on both of us. At the end of the day, if we’re successful, then we can help the team be successful. Then if the team is successful, we win games.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- In becoming the Pelicans‘ new head coach, Jamahl Mosley accepted the same challenge he took on five years ago in Orlando, Rod Walker of NOLA writes in a subscriber-only piece. The Magic were coming off a 21-win season when they hired Mosley, and he built them into a consistent playoff team by placing a strong emphasis on defense. New Orleans has won 21 and 26 games the past two years and is hoping for the same type of transformation.
- Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. has a combination of size and talent that appeals to new team president Masai Ujiri, making him a possibility when the Mavericks pick at No. 9, suggests James Piercey of Dallas Hoops Journal (subscription required). Piercey notes that Ujiri has emphasized length and defense with his previous teams, sparking speculation about Brown, who is 6’5″ with a 6’7.5″ wingspan.
- Christian Clark of The Athletic looks at five potential candidates in the Mavericks‘ coaching search, starting with Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney. Considered one of the NBA’s top assistants, Sweeney spent four years on Jason Kidd‘s staff in Dallas before leaving for San Antonio last summer. Clark also examines the cases for Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter and South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley.
Micah Nori Among Finalists For Blazers’ Coaching Job
The Trail Blazers‘ coaching search appears to be progressing toward a resolution.
On the heels of reports that interim head coach Tiago Splitter and lead Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy are considered finalists for the job, a third name has been added to the mix, with Marc Stein of The Stein Line stating that Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori is another finalist (Twitter link).
The Blazers’ interest in the Wolves’ assistant was already known. However, there have been rumors that Portland is looking at upwards of 20 or 30 candidates, so it was unclear until now whether Nori was viewed as a serious contender for the position.
Nori has been an assistant coach since 2009, when he was hired by Toronto. After a four-year stint with the Raptors from 2009-13, he also spent time as an assistant with the Kings (2013-15), Nuggets (2015-18), and Pistons (2018-21).
Nori, Chris Finch’s lead assistant in Minnesota, has been with the Wolves since 2021 and has become an increasingly popular name in coaching searches over recent years. This spring, he has been linked to the Bulls’ open position and there has been speculation he might become a candidate for the vacancy in Dallas as well.
Mavericks Executive Matt Riccardi Leaving Organization
It has been a month of upheaval in Dallas. After hiring Masai Ujiri to be their new president and Mike Schmitz as their general manager, the Mavericks parted ways with head coach Jason Kidd on Tuesday and are also splitting with executive Matt Riccardi, who is departing the organization, per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
A native of the Dallas area, Riccardi worked with the Nets for 13 years in scouting and executive roles, then was hired by the Mavericks in 2022 as their senior director of pro personnel.
He was promoted during the summer of 2023 to an assistant GM position and was elevated again last November when the team fired Nico Harrison, becoming a co-interim GM with Michael Finley at that time. Riccardi and Finley ran the front office for the remainder of the 2025/26 season while the Mavs searched for Harrison’s permanent successor. According to Fischer, Riccardi was actually the runner-up to Ujiri in that search.
Riccardi was the Mavs’ representative in the drawing room on draft lottery night last May when the team won the No. 1 overall pick and also represented Dallas at this month’s lottery drawing. Just over a week later, however, he’s on his way out. Riccardi’s exit is part of a “flurry” of staff changes involving coaches and scouts, writes Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
There has been no indication yet whether Finley will remain in Dallas’ front office or join Riccardi in leaving the team.
Here are a few more notes from Stein on the changes in Dallas:
- Ujiri’s annual salary on his new deal with the Mavs is “comfortably” in the eight figures, industry sources tell The Stein Line.
- While it’s not immediately clear who will emerge as top candidates to replace Kidd on the sidelines in Dallas, Ujiri likely already has some specific targets in mind, according to Stein, who points out that the former Raptors executive hired Schmitz just four days after joining the organization. Spurs associate head coach and former Mavs assistant Sean Sweeney is one potential candidate with ties to the team, Stein notes; Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, whose time as a Raptors assistant overlapped with Ujiri’s stint in Toronto, is another.
- As for Kidd, it’s possible he could draw immediate interest from another team seeking a head coach, assuming he wants to jump right into another job. The Magic, who are in the midst of a coaching search, had serious interest in Kidd before hiring Jamahl Mosley in 2021, per Stein. Kidd also has a preexisting relationship with new Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon, Stein adds.
- According to Stein, the expectation is that the Mavericks will receive trade interest in point guard Kyrie Irving this offseason, though it remains to be seen whether or not they’ll be receptive to those inquiries.
Coaching Rumors: Splitter, Blazers, Bulls, Bickerstaff, More
After reporting a couple weeks ago that Tiago Splitter was unlikely to be hired as the Trail Blazers‘ head coach, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) has walked back that report to some extent.
As Fischer explains, there was initially pessimism that Portland would promote Splitter to the permanent job after he spent the majority of 2025/26 as the Blazers’ interim head coach. However, he heard “whispers” on Monday that the possibility can’t be ruled out.
Splitter, who was hired as an assistant last June, took over the top coaching post when Chauncey Billups was arrested on federal charges and placed on unpaid leave after the first game of the regular season. Splitter did an admirable job, leading the team to a 42-39 record and earning Portland’s first playoff spot in five years.
In addition to his success with the Blazers, the former NBA big man also earned “real respect” around the league for the way he handled himself and guided the team during an unprecedented situation, Fischer writes. As such, he’s still believed to be a candidate for the full-time job “on some level.”
For what it’s worth, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports says the “buzz in league circles” is new majority owner Tom Dundon isn’t a “big fan” of Splitter.
Other candidates for Portland’s head coaching vacancy include assistant coaches Micah Nori (Timberwolves), Jared Dudley (Nuggets), Steve Hetzel (Nets) and Greg St. Jean (Lakers), Fischer notes.
Here are several other coaching rumors from around the NBA:
- K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network continues to hear Sean Sweeney (Spurs), James Borrego (who spent ’25/26 as the Pelicans’ interim coach), Nori, and current Bulls assistant Wes Unseld Jr. are among the candidates to replace Billy Donovan as Chicago’s head coach (Twitter link). According to Fischer, all four of those coaches are expected to interview for the job, as is Thunder assistant Dave Bliss. Fischer has also been told the Bulls plan to request permission to interview Splitter, but it’s unclear if Portland will grant that request since Splitter is technically still under contract through next season.
- Like Hunter Patterson of The Athletic, Fischer says the Pistons remain fully committed to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whom the team just signed to a contract extension after advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Bickerstaff’s extension is worth at least $10MM per year, according to Fischer, who confirms Taylor Jenkins received an eight-figure salary as well when he was hired by the Bucks. Jenkins reportedly received a six-year deal.
- Fischer, who previously reported that the Hawks were expected to discuss an extension with Quin Snyder, hears from sources that a new deal between the two sides is now considered imminent. General manager Onsi Saleh praised Snyder after Atlanta was eliminated from the playoffs. As with Bickerstaff and Jenkins, Snyder’s new contract is expected to be around eight figures, Fischer adds.
Stein’s Latest: LeBron, Sixers, Magic, Blazers, Giannis
Has LeBron James played his last NBA game? That’s the question Marc Stein wondered on Saturday at his Substack.
Stein and people he trusts around the league think James is likely to play a record-extending 24th season in 2026/27, but Stein acknowledges that no one — maybe not even James — knows the answer.
James, a 21-time All-NBA member, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 41-year-old’s “runaway preference” would be to remain with the Lakers, Stein writes, and they’re believed to be open to that scenario as well — with a caveat.
According to Stein, Los Angeles would like to bring back LeBron at a “much lower number” than the $52.6MM he made this season. However, Stein views that scenario as “thorny,” since James has never accepted the sort of discounted rate the Lakers might prefer to offer.
Still, the other teams that could appeal to James — the Warriors, Cavaliers, Knicks and Clippers — may not be able to offer him much in free agency either, Stein notes. That might make retirement a more viable option, even though Stein suspects the NBA’s all-time leading will play another season.
Stein also detailed several other items of interest in his Sunday edition of The Stein Line:
- Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, recently said the Sixers‘ new head of basketball operations would have “a lot of authority” but that he expects to be involved in major personnel and roster decisions moving forward. That has led to a “widespread belief” around the league that Myers will explore the possibility of hiring Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh for the job, according to Stein, who points out that Saleh worked with Myers in Golden State. However, Stein hears Saleh is expected to remain with Atlanta, as the 76ers would require permission to speak to him, and that seems unlikely to be granted after Saleh finished second in Executive of the Year voting.
- According to Stein, there have been “rumbles” about the Sixers potentially being intrigued by Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, but he’s still under contract for another year and Minnesota didn’t show any interest in letting him speak to Dallas before the Mavericks decided to hire Masai Ujiri.
- Regardless of what happens with the front office search, Stein has heard chatter throughout the season about Sixers assistant GM Jameer Nelson potentially being promoted to an “expanded role.” The former NBA point guard is highly regarded in Philadelphia and in the league and is “routinely described” as a possible future GM, Stein writes. 76ers consultant Neil Olshey and Thunder executive Vince Rozman, a longtime former Sixers employee, have also been connected to Philadelphia’s front office vacancy after the team fired Daryl Morey.
- The Magic hope to hire an experienced head coach to replace Jamahl Mosley, per Stein, and Billy Donovan is still viewed as a “strong candidate” for the position despite backing out of the same job to return to the University of Florida in 2007. Tom Thibodeau is another experienced coach who remains a free agent, Stein notes.
- Sources tell the Stein Line that Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori can be added to the list of names the Trail Blazers have expressed interest in as they search for a new head coach. For what it’s worth, former Blazers head coach Terry Stotts threw his name into the hat recently as well, texting longtime Oregon sportswriter Dwight Jaynes that he’d like another crack at the job. “I would love to come back to the Blazers and Portland,” Stotts told Jaynes. Stotts, who confirmed his agent has reached out to Portland about the position, spent the last two seasons as the Warriors’ top assistant.
- According to Stein, the following statement from president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is among the reasons the Celtics keep popping up as a potential suitor for Giannis Antetokounmpo: “One of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim,” Stevens said. “And I think we do need to add to our team to do that.”