Tag: Wes Unseld

Why did the Chicago Bulls’ front office decide to shake up the team’s coaching staff?

Few thought that the focus of an overhaul would start with Chicago head coach Billy Donovan’s bench of assistant coaches.

Why did the Chicago Bulls’ front office decide to shake up the team’s coaching staff? Chicago GM Arturas Karnisovas made it clear that change was coming to the organization after a lack of moves doomed yet another NBA season for the Bulls at the start of the 2024 offseason.

But few people were thinking that the focus of that overhaul would start with Chicago head coach Billy Donovan’s bench of assistant coaches, instead expecting some veteran names from the Bulls roster to be on the move. Instead, we have seen Chris Fleming and Mo Cheeks get let go by the front office and the hiring of former Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. as an assistant, and former Los Angeles Clippers assistant Dan Craig as lead assistant.

The hosts of the NBC Sports Boston “Bulls Talk” podcast recently weighed in on why this was the case.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what they had to say.

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The Chicago Bulls have officially hired former Wizards coach Wes Unseld, Jr. as their lead assistant coach

Unseld served as the Wizards’ top coach from 2021 until this current NBA offseason.

The Chicago Bulls have officially hired former Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld, Jr. as their lead assistant coach for the 2024-25 season, with Unseld bringing a high level of experience to helm Bulls head coach Billy Donovan’s bench.

Unseld served as the Wizards’ top coach from 2021 until this current NBA offseason. Previously, he has had assistant coaching stints for the Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors, and, under his father as general manager, the Wizards at the start of his coaching career. He also played as a small forward for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays before making the leap to the other side of the clipboard.

The hosts of the “Locked On Bulls” podcast, Haize and Pat the Designer, sat down to take a closer look at the hire and what it means for the Bulls next season.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what they had to say.

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Wes Unseld Jr. to represent Wizards at NBA draft lottery

The Wizards enter the lottery slotted 10th after finishing with a 35-47 record.

Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. will represent the organization on Tuesday at the NBA draft lottery in Chicago, Illinois, the team announced on Thursday.

The Wizards enter the lottery slotted 10th after finishing with a 35-47 record. They have a 3% chance of winning the No. 1 pick and a 13.9% of jumping up into the top four. They own the highest odds of earning the 10th pick (65.9%).

Washington currently has its first-round pick and the 56th pick from the Dallas Mavericks in the trade involving Kristaps Porzingis. They lost their second-round pick after trading it away to the Cleveland Cavaliers in December 2018.

The Wizards were last in the lottery in 2020 when they drafted Deni Avdija from Maccabi Tel Aviv with the ninth pick. They were slotted No. 9 that year and didn’t move up or down. Certainly, the organization will be hoping Unseld can bring some good luck on Tuesday.

The draft lottery is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Time will tell if Gentry is still the …

Time will tell if Gentry is still the head coach of the Kings by the time he turns 68 on Nov. 5, 2022. Regardless of whether the Shelby, North Carolina, native is with Sacramento or elsewhere, he will always be appreciative of his time in the NBA that began in 1989 as an assistant coach under Larry Brown with the San Antonio Spurs. “Look at how the league in general has grown and what [former NBA commissioner] David Stern did to this league and how he made it so globally,” Gentry said. “I remember taking a trip to Africa [with] me, Wes Unseld and Alex English, and David Stern went. And we went to South Africa. We had dinner with Nelson Mandela. We did things like that that you could only dream of as a kid from Shelby, North Carolina.

Bulls talking to several assistants

The Chicago Bulls were granted permission to speak with several assistants for the franchise’s head coaching job and interviews with candidates are well underway, sources told ESPN. No permission was necessary for former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson to interview, but new executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley are talking to several assistant coaches still involved in the playoffs, including Milwaukee’s Darvin Ham, Denver’s Wes Unseld Jr. and Miami’s Dan Craig, sources said.

Kenny Atkinson among Bulls head coaching candidates