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Adrian WojnarowskiESPN
The Chicago Bulls have agreed on a contract extension with coach Jim Boylen, the team announced Friday.
After replacing Fred Hoiberg in December, Boylen had agreed on a short contract that would take him through the end of the 2019-2020 season, but this new, multi-year deal will replace it, league sources told ESPN. Boylen is in the process of interviewing assistant coaching candidates, league sources said.
Bulls ownership and management consider Boylen the teacher the franchise needs now with a young roster, and loved the way he’s been able to build relationships with players along with holding them accountable and coaching them hard.
The Bulls return a strong core of young players that are expected to be complemented in free agency — and a 12.5 percent chance in the draft lottery to secure the No. 1 overall pick.
After Hoiberg’s firing in December, Boylen was promoted from associate head coach. From the beginning, the Bulls made it clear that they would likely not be conducting a coaching search in the offseason, electing to make Boylen coach instead of an interim.
“Jim has a strong vision on where he wants to take this team, and he has done a great job establishing the culture that we want this organization to stand for as we continue to progress. He has tremendous passion for developing young talent, is a strong communicator and a good fit for this team. The organization is confident in the direction that he is taking our players, and we are committed to him,” Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson said in a news release on Friday.
Boylen had a tumultuous beginning to his tenure as head coach but eventually started to show improvement as players began to respond to his hard-driving coaching style. Zach LaVine, who was skeptical of Boylen’s coaching-style early on, has since said that he has learned to trust the first-year coach. In March, LaVine went so far as to offer to pay an ejection fine for Boylen.
Malika Andrews contributed to this report.
Source : ESPN
