Friday, the Chicago Bulls decided that Jim Boylen was the man to lead their franchise back to prominence, as they extended him for another three years.
While this came as no shock to me, as the Bulls over the past decade-and-a-half have a proven track record of making mystifying moves.
To say the least, it is not prudent to turn your franchise over to a coach that suffered a near mutiny shortly after taking over team and stubbornly implementing an offensive system that predates the El Camino. Despite the baggage the Bulls have, it seems like they settled with this decision. The young core they are building has some promise, they could have a high lottery pick in ( we will find out exactly where May 14) and some cap space and this could have been an attractive situation for a lot of coaches. I know John Paxson was gushing over these “atta boy” attributes that Boylen brought to the table that did not translate into wins on the court, as the Bulls would go a pathetic 17-41 after Boylen took over after Fred Hoiberg was sacked 24 games into the season.
As another season in the Windy City ended in disappointment, the franchise, at least for the foreseeable future, will continue to make decisions that will all but assure that a return to its glory days, or anything approaching them is , for the time being, a pipe dream.