The pieces are beginning to fall into place for the Chicago Bulls.
After hiring two right hands in Acie Law IV and Stephen Mervis earlier this month, new executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham turned his focus to the next item on the checklist: finding a coach to replace Billy Donovan.
The process is moving at a rapid pace out of sheer necessity. Although ownership bought itself a bit of extra time by cleaning house on the former regime before the regular season ended, a full front-office overhaul is no easy task in the 10-week span between the last game and the NBA draft on June 23-24. The Bulls also are competing with teams such as the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks that also need a new coach.
So far, the Bulls reportedly have shown interest in and extended interview offers to six potential candidates: Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, San Antonio Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant Dave Bliss and Portland Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter, per a report from Clutch Points; and Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, according to ESPN.
This is not a definitive list — the Bulls coaching search is expansive and Graham has made it clear he wants to plumb significant depths in this process — but it serves as an informative guide to how the new front office is approaching the position.
Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham responds to questions from the media during an introductory news conference May 6, 2026, at the Advocate Center. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)
The defining test of Graham’s task in Chicago is whether he can utilize his scouting acumen to hit gold several times — mostly in the draft, but also via trades and free agency — and thus methodically and organically build a winning roster. But the coaching search is a similar gauntlet for a different type of talent identification.
The Bulls aren’t seeking an established veteran who has led teams deep into the playoffs. This is partially due to the steep financial commitment required to lure a top-level coach into a years-long rebuild, which ostensibly would include a lot of losing. But Graham’s search for an up-and-comer also reflects a broader ethos in the front office, which is focused on following a more patient process for developing talent internally.
The main throughline so far is that the Bulls clearly are seeking the league’s next coaching star. Five of these six candidates are between 40 and 42. (Nori is the outlier at 52.) Five of them also are lead assistant coaches or associate head coaches with no prior head coaching experience.
As the lone head coach in this lineup, Splitter is notable because of the strangeness of his current situation. He stepped into the interim position with remarkable aplomb after the Trail Blazers were rattled by the removal of Chauncey Billups at the start of the season due to an FBI investigation into illegal sports betting.
Splitter guided a young Blazers team through a transformative season, finishing 42-40 before earning a playoff berth via the play-in tournament. In any other situation, the full-time Portland job should be his for the taking, but owner Tom Dundon’s lack of spending may push Splitter to leave for a better offer.
With his balance of experience while retaining newcomer status, Splitter could be an ideal candidate for a Bulls team ready to build around young talent. He showed considerable skill in working with young stars such as Deni Avdija and managed a difficult workload competing in the stacked Western Conference.
Nori brings a similar blend of experience with nearly two decades under his belt as an NBA assistant, including serving as the Timberwolves lead assistant since 2021 and helming the team for portions of the 2024 playoffs while coach Chris Finch recovered from a knee injury.
Another clear focus in the Bulls coaching search is an emphasis on player development, which will be key for a team building around draft picks — beginning with this year’s No. 4 selection in a highly touted class. Bryant, Quinn, Sweeney and Bliss are all known as player development specialists who could help the Bulls solidify their foundation.
Player development can feel like a tricky catchphrase in the NBA. This aspect of team building relies on a delicate combination of factors: identifying talented players, creating an off-court infrastructure to support player growth and implementing an on-court system that provides opportunities for young talent to fail, learn and ultimately improve.
Coaches who specialize in player development might require a greater infrastructure around them — for instance, experienced assistant coaches such as Wes Unseld Jr. — to help navigate the ins and outs of developing a system and executing game plans. But this is a worthwhile investment for a Bulls team prepared for a slow process that won’t require immediate in-game acumen.
Bliss and Quinn are notable for another reason: the coaching trees from which they blossomed. Quinn has spent more than a decade working under Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, widely considered a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the top three current NBA coaches. Bliss worked his way up since 2018 from the Thunder’s player development staff to the front bench under 2024 Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault.
Spoelstra and Daigneault operate different strategies and systems. But fundamentally, both Quinn and Bliss represent the ideal type of coaching hire the Bulls hope to make — identifying a talented young coach in an introductory stage of his career, then positioning him to build into his prime with a young roster.
For Graham, there’s plenty of value in taking his time to make this decision. But the basic parameters for the next coach — young with pedigree, specialized in development, hungry to prove himself — are set.
All that’s left is for the Bulls to pick a name and let the next era begin.