On Saturday afternoon, reports stated that the Bulls had agreed to a new deal with head coach Jim Boylen.
Boylen was being paid over $800,000 for the rest of this season and through next season. And his pay raise will likely get him closer to a salary more in line with the rest of the league’s head coaches.
Any thought that Boylen would be replaced ahead of the 2019-20 season can be put to rest for now, as the Bulls are extremely unlikely to make any changes at the head coaching position with this gesture. Plus, Fred Hoiberg still being paid $5 million this year and another $5 million next season.
Boylen is 5-13 through his first 18 games heading into Saturday night’s matchup with the Utah Jazz. The defense has been better than before Boylen took over, though the offense has taken big steps backwards.
Boylen and the Bulls are still getting used to each other’s styles, so much more time will need to pass before we can give Boylen a truly fair evaluation. Games like Friday’s massive loss to the Warriors are not encouraging but a full season and training camp with Boylen as head coach is the best way to see what he is really made of.
All of this is to say, Boylen getting a fair pay raise and more of an opportunity to show his coaching skills is not shocking. But it is still great that the Bulls did the right thing in this case.
It will be interesting to see how the Boylen-era continues on now that he has an even bigger vote of confidence from the front office, ahead of one of the more important Bulls’ draft decisions in recent memory.