The Chicago Bulls were considered an NBA title contender right up until their sudden playoff exit at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. After finishing the year in an underwhelming fashion, the focus has immediately shifted to the future of the franchise.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has done an excellent time for the Bulls in his time on the job but he appears to have worn out his welcome. He hasn’t been able to get his team over the top and he’s clashed with the front office. That being the case, he’s a likely goner. Fantasy GM’s won’t be too disappointed as a more offensive-minded head coach will be able to get more out of this team. Here are three hires that fantasy players want to see in Chicago:
Alvin Gentry
Even though he has been talked about a lot as one of the hottest free agent coaches on the market, Gentry is still somewhat of an underrated commodity for the casual NBA fan that doesn’t realize how much he will bring to his next team. Gentry was the head coach of the Phoenix Suns when they went to the Western Conference Finals in 2009-10 and that team and the individual players that were a part of it haven’t had the same level of success ever since he left.
Gentry has done an excellent job as an assistant to Steve Kerr on the Golden State Warriors staff too. It’s his ability to space the floor and put players in position to reach their maximum potential at the offensive end of the floor that is so important. Thibodeau has always been recognized as a defensive-minded head coach and the potential switch to Gentry would change the team’s overall philosophy. A system more conducive to offensive numbers and therefore improved fantasy statistics of guys like Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and everyone else.
Mike D’Antoni
In terms of boosting the overall fantasy value of players on the Bulls’ roster, D’Antoni also makes sense as a head coach because he likes his team to run a high-tempo, run-and-gun type of offense that produces strong fantasy numbers. D’Antoni isn’t a good defensive coach and he has struggled in each of his last two stops with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, but his offensive reputation precedes him. The Bulls only scored 100.8 points per game last season, which was 15th in the NBA. One would figure that a roster with Rose, Butler, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Mike Dunleavy, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic would be capable of more. With such a loaded team in Chicago, he would probably have success with the Bulls while boosting the overall fantasy value of their individual players.
Mark Jackson
The idea that the difference between last year’s Warriors and this year’s Golden State team is the head coach is more than a reach and if Chicago can’t find a way to bring in either Gentry or D’Antoni, the next-best option might be Jackson. He helped turn the Warriors around and built them in to a playoff team and while he isn’t the best coach in terms of x’s and o’s, he is a fierce coach that knows how to motivate his players and put them in position to succeed. Jackson isn’t as complete of a head coach as Thibodeau but he could very well help the Bulls put up better fantasy numbers as a team as a more offensive-minded head coach.
Avery Johnson
Johnson would qualify as the sleeper pick of this group because he doesn’t have the same resume as some of the other coaches. However, he did win the 2006 Coach of the Year award when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals that year. He’s proven to be a smart coach in terms of maximizing the offensive potential of his teams. Johnson isn’t as good all-around as Thibodeau but his presence would undoubtedly help boost the fantasy value of the individual Bulls’ players.
