5 possible candidates for the next Chicago Bulls head coach

5. Anthony Grant

Get familiar with Grant’s name. The Dayton head coach was the Naismith College Coach of the Year in 2020 and helmed what many believed was a favorite in the NCAA tournament before its cancelation.

Since taking over at Dayton in 2017, Grant has engineered a brilliant, modern on-court product, culminating in a 29-2 performance this season. Prior to that, Grant had success as the head coach at VCU (before Shaka Smart) and Alabama (before Avery Johnson). Grant also has coached under Billy Donovan for the back-to-back champion Florida teams from the mid-2000s as well as with the Thunder from 2015-17. The pedigree is clear.

At age 54, Grant can use the momentum of Dayton’s season to put himself back on the radar for NBA jobs. Based on the success of Grant as well as many members of that Oklahoma City staff, including Mark Bryant, Darko Rajakovic and Monty Williams in Phoenix this year, should propel his reputation among NBA decision-makers like Karnisovas even further.

The system Grant put into place at Dayton should speak for itself. The Flyers played small, with projected top-10 pick Obi Toppin at center on defense, moved the ball, actually ran sets unlike so many college teams, and were among the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the country. They got off to a creaky start on defense but by getting smarter and more diligent in their switching scheme, they improved as the season went along. What Grant did at Dayton was one of the best coaching performances in college basketball this year. If he isn’t ready for the NBA, it’s hard to tell who would be.