A report this week suggested that the Chicago Bulls might consider trading All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler this offseason. This comes with speculation that Butler, as well as others on the Bulls roster, have had issues with rookie head coach Fred Hoiberg.
Any potential rift between the head coach and the best player makes room to assume that management might have to choose between one or the other. Butler has since discouraged the idea of him leaving Chicago, and in a video for The Vertical, Adrian Wojnarowski reports that head coach Fred Hoiberg probably isn’t going anywhere either:
“Chicago’s front office of John Paxton and Gar Forman couldn’t wait to hire Fred Hoiberg from Iowa State last summer,” Wojnarowski says. “So much so that both the front office and Hoiberg knew for months prior that Thibodeau would be fired and Hoiberg hired as coach. Hoiberg is management’s guy now, and they are on the line for his success. Management can’t fire Tom Thibodeau with $9 million left on his deal, then fire Hoiberg, with an additional $20 million remaining over four years on his contract.
“Paxton and Forman have to reshape the roster and support Hoiberg, which is new for them. Usually Bulls management is used to blaming and undermining its coaches. But now they have to understand that their own job security is likely tied to Hoiberg’s success or failure.”
Firing Hoiberg after one underachieving season dampened by significant injury stints would only come off as drastic. In fact, such a decision would likely only occur if the reported rift between Hoiberg, Butler, and other players was fully valid. At that point, Bulls management would find themselves having to choose between coach and players. Hoiberg spoke on the alleged feud with Butler to the Chicago Sun-Times, saying their relationship “has improved”.
Bulls forward Taj Gibson even came to Hoiberg’s defense on Friday, via the Chicago Tribune:
“Everybody tries to discredit this man, and it’s rough. He’s a rookie coach taking on a veteran group. Give him some slack, man. It’s hard enough as it is to come in. You have the whole city of Chicago on your back. It’s tough. But I think he’s learning, doing a good job, staying with us. And I’m riding with him no matter what.
“Me and him have had long talks, especially over the (All-Star) break. He really cares about the players. At times it gets a little crazy and things go south, but we have to do what’s right for him. We have to play harder for him.”
The main contrast between Hoiberg and former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was their strengths of emphasis — Thibodeau was defensive-oriented and Hoiberg is known for his offensive mind from his time at Iowa State. It’s been a massive transition in system and mentality for Chicago this season, and as Gibson alluded to, Hoiberg deserves more time to develop success.
Part of that development, as mentioned by Wojnarowski, will be reshaping the roster to the conditions of Hoiberg’s system. The Bulls will have to look to make some roster tweaks in that regard, but as it stands, Hoiberg and Butler are bound to co-exist in Chicago.
