Bulls fire head coach Jim Boylen

Jim Boylen is out in Chicago.

Even though the Chicago Bulls were bringing in a new GM, the miserly ways of owner Jerry Reinsdorf led some to believe that they were going to hold on to head coach Jim Boylen. Ownership seems to have put success on the court above finances for the first time in a while, which has led to Boylen getting his pink slip.

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Bulls have decided to part ways with Boylen, as they correctly assessed that he is not the guy who can lead the Chicago rebuild.

Jim Boylen was not getting the job done in Chicago.

To his credit, Boylen did have plenty of experience when the Bulls promoted him from assistant head coach to head coach in 2018. He was an assistant on Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets for 11 seasons before working with Tom Izzo at Michigan State. After trying (and failing) to bring Utah to national prominence, Boylen returned to the NBA, eventually latching on with the Bulls in 2015.

Boylen won just 32 percent of his games with the Bulls, good for a record of 39-84. While the Bills might lack the superstar needed to make a deep run in the postseason, a young core lead by Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Coby White, and Wendell Carter should’ve been much more competitive in a weak East.

With a new GM in Arturas Karnisovas in town, it makes sense that Chicago gets rid of the remnants of their putrid last half-decade in the Windy City.

Unlike most major NBA rebuilds, where an incoming coach has to essentially start from scratch, the Bulls have a promising young core ready to challenge for a playoff spot in the East. Karnisovas knows that he needs someone who will get the most out of LaVine while continuing to develop White and Carter. On his best day, Boylen is not that type of coach.