The Chicago Bulls reportedly are "days" away from hiring Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. In addition, Chicago reportedly had already reached a mutual "understanding" with Hoiberg before firing Tom Thibodeau.
A Thibodeau-Bulls split was imminent, but Chicago firing Thibodeau on Thursday happened earlier than expected. A scathing column from Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski may have the answer for why: Chicago already had Hoiberg waiting in the wings to take over.
"As word started to reach Thibodeau's inner circle that the Bulls had an understanding with Hoiberg that he would accept the job, sources say, the organization felt no need to wait until June to fire Thibodeau," Wojnarowski wrote Thursday.
Wojnarowski also said Hoiberg, whom the Bulls' management has been fond of for some time, would be hired within the next couple days.
"Finally, the Bulls have the clear path to hire Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. Forman has been obsessive in his desire to hire Hoiberg," Wojnarowski wrote, "and it will be only a matter of days until the Bulls' make-believe search ends and this back-door process is over."
We've all heard about the supposed friction between Thibodeau and the management, but Wojnarowski's article shined a light onto just what caused the divorce between the two sides. While team owner Jerry Reinsdorf's passive-aggressive press release seemed to blame Thibodeau for the split, Wojnarowski pinned the blame on Chicago's management, specifically vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman. Wojnarowski suggested Paxson and Forman were jealous of Thibodeau's success and, similar to what they did with ex-coach Vinny Del Negro, set about to undermine Thibodeau and pave the way for Hoiberg, whom management reportedly wanted all along.
Hoiberg has a 115-56 record since taking over the Cyclones in 2010.
