The Chicago Bulls are playing a dangerous game.
The Chicago Bulls are playing a dangerous game with the current status of their head coach, Jim Boylen. It is one that will almost certainly come back to haunt them if they make the wrong decision.
Let us first start with where we are regarding the status of the much-maligned Bulls head coach. Beginning at the time the 2020 NBA season was suspended, there was a lot of strong talk coming from Chicago and national media, that the Bulls would move on from Boylen. Some prognosticators used stronger language than others, but by and large, it was difficult to imagine a scenario where he would be the head coach in 2021.
However, as time drug on and no move was made to fire Boylen, that position softened quite a bit. Now, those within the media are not certain at all — and in fact — many are starting to believe that there is a very real possibility Boylen does return.
Why? Not because he is a good head coach — though ownership apparently does. Rather, it’s because they do not have the appetite to pay two coaches next season. In the 2019-20 season, Boylen’s contract was guaranteed for just $1 million of his $1.6 million salary.
The fact that a couple of a million dollars would influence such a critical decision for a team valued at $3.2 billion as of February 2020, boggles the mind. It underscores the frugality that has become the hallmark of this franchise in recent memory.
From the Bulls perspective, it’s just one season. That logic is flawed in so many ways. One season can do irreparable damage. Anyone in Chicago remember the impact of the Chicago Bears retaining John Fox in 2017 even though they likely planned to move on from him once his contract had expired at season’s end? Hiring Matt Nagy before the 2017 NFL Draft may have resulted in Patrick Mahomes being in orange and blue.
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So with all due respect to the Reinsdorf family, one season can have significant impacts. For starters, you have a team whose morale seems to be at an all-time low. Very few, if any, of the players like Boylen. In fact, they appear pretty comfortable publicly stating how little they like him. What sort of message does it send to the players that the team values $2 million bucks over the best interests of the team?
Bringing back Boylen would certainly make it more difficult to re-sign Lauri Markkanen after next year. You may also see Zach LaVine demand to be traded, as he has not hidden his feelings about Boylen. So the Bulls have to ask themselves whether the long term costs of retaining Boylen outweigh the savings of retaining him. The answer seems obvious, but then again, we are talking about the Bulls.