Fred Hoiberg has been fired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls after four seasons and a 115-155 record in that time. He made the playoffs once and was eliminated in the first round in 2016-17 playoffs at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sport relays the team announcement and Adrian Wojnarwoski shares the information about his remaining contract and the news of Jim Boylen taking over as interim coach.
Bulls fire Fred Hoiberg, the team just announced
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) December 3, 2018
Team announced coaching change moments ago. Hoiberg was in the fourth season of a five-year, $25M contract. https://t.co/SBhRX2qDes
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 3, 2018
The Bulls are giving Boylen every chance to succeed, promoting him to head coach as key players are returning or nearing return from injury. Hoiberg will rejoin the college coaching marketplace as a top candidate. https://t.co/g21WMg1Igs
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 3, 2018
Hoiberg’s firing comes at an interesting time especially considering he has time left on his contract with the Bulls and the state the team is currently in. There’s no real upside in firing a coach if you’re trying to secure a better draft pick, unless the Bulls really do believe they can make a push for the playoffs or something behind the scenes got Hoiberg fired. Hoiberg did go through some internal team drama through his time with the team bumping heads with players at times but those situations all ended with Hoiberg remaining with the team.
Potential star big man Lauri Markkanen just returned from an injury and maybe the team wants to give him a new enviornment to help his development.
The team released a statement from Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson.
“Decisions like this one are never easy to make, however I felt this was the right choice for our organization at this time. After a thorough evaluation, I elected to make this move with the overall development of our team in mind. As a team, I believe it is imperative that we make unfaltering strides in the right direction and build the right habits to help put our players in the best position to evolve not only now, but into the future. I want to thank Fred for his dedication and efforts, as well as for his enduring commitment to our team.”
The Bulls currently hold a 5-19 record on the season good for second worst in the Eastern Conference and third worst in the NBA overall. They have lost six in a row and are getting outscored by an average of 9.6 points per game.
