Wojnarowski: Those Close To Fred Hoiberg Believe He'll Be Coaching The Bulls Next Season
(CBS) While all remains quiet as of midday Wednesday on the Tom Thibodeau front and what lies ahead for his future with the Bulls, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski told Mully & Grote that he still doesn't see a scenario in which Thibodeau will be in Chicago next season.
And the scenario that remains far and away the most likely is Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg leaving Ames for Chicago.
"It doesn't make sense," Wojnarowski said of the Bulls waiting to cut ties with Thibodeau. "It does feel very personal at this point for management to him. I cannot imagine a scenario where he's back. The people around Fred Hoiberg believe very much he'll be in Chicago before next season, and this thing now lingers until the organization makes a decision to move on. There hasn't really been any communication between Thibodeau and the organization. I know he reports to work there every day or virtually every day, and they prepare for the draft. I'm told Tom goes into the office and closes the door and, I assume, watches tape of something."
Multiple outlets have reported recently that the Bulls may wait until after the other job openings are filled -- in New Orleans, Orlando and Denver -- to get rid of Thibodeau, who has two years and about $9 million left on his contract. In the the case of Thibodeau sitting out a year, Chicago would be responsible for the balance of his 2015-'16 salary. If Thibodeau takes a new job, the offset language in his contract would save the Bulls a lot of money.
Scott Skiles is the front-runner to land the job with the Magic. Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry has interviewed with the Pelicans, who have also expressed interest in Jeff Van Gundy. The Nuggets have been patient in their search, and Thibodeau has yet to be linked to that job in any way.
In Chicago, they all wait, with the Bulls going the draft preparation as the situation plays itself out.
"They've had every opportunity here to just cut bait and move on," Wojnarowski said. "The feeling around the league has certainly been that they're going to let these job fill up on him, which makes no sense. If they fired him, there's an offset in his contract so if he went to work in New Orleans or Orlando or anywhere there's an opening, they wouldn't have to pay him next year. But at this rate, if they fire him -- and Orlando is on the verge of hiring Scott Skiles and New Orleans, they've been moving down the tracks here and been talking to candidates. And no team has really shown an inclination at all to give Chicago compensation. I think if Thibodeau was free tomorrow or today, New Orleans would move to talk to him, and he'd be a candidate. But in this day and age, teams are willing to wait. There's not a sense of giving up picks anymore for a coach."
Wojnarowski cautioned that while the 57-year-old Thibodeau loves coaching, he also wouldn't hesitate to sit out a year because he knows he's nearing the homestretch of his coaching career and needs to find a quality situation if he's to chase a championship in a new gig.
"When he takes a job, I believe he'll take one where he thinks he can win big. Denver's not set up for that right now," Wojnarowski said. "New Orleans is the one job where you see an avenue to winning really big because of Anthony Davis. I think it's more likely than not, even if he were let go today, he would probably sit out the year."
Listen to Wojnarowski's full interview below.
