Earlier today, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Chicago Bulls have fired their Head Coach, Fred Hoiberg. Woj also reported that Hoiberg understandably did not take the news well, but perhaps what is most confusing is that Hoiberg was surprised he was fired. What a world we live in everybody! The fact that you can coach a team to a 115-155 record in three plus seasons and be shocked that you lost your job is mind boggling to me.
You may be thinking, “wow that is surprising since the Bulls made the playoffs once under Fred Hoiberg.” Fred Hoiberg led the Bulls to the playoffs in 2017, giving Boston a very tough first round matchup but lost in six games, due in large part to the injury of Rajon Rondo. It is worth noting that although they made the playoffs, they entered them as the 8 seed after going 41-41, the definition of mediocre. So, in the middle season of Fred Hoiberg’s reign, the team peaked at mediocrity; that is surely something he can hang his hat on…NOT. Remember the debacle between Rondo, Wade, and Jimmy Butler? How about the time Bobby Portis punched his teammate Nikola Mirotic in the face? Those events also happened under Fred Hoiberg’s watch and was a terrible look for the franchise.
After the 2016-2017 playoff season ended, the Bulls went into full rebuild. That offseason they traded Jimmy Butler and got back a decent return, although the most notable return was the high-flying, athletic shooting guard Zach Lavine who was coming off an ACL injury from the season before. They drafted Lauri Markkanen, the 7’0” stretch big from Finland who had a solid rookie year and has only played one game so far this season due to injury. Denzel Valentine from Michigan State also had a surprisingly productive rookie season and showed he could be a real piece for Chicago moving forward. With the rebuild fully in place, it was ok for Fred Hoiberg’s Bulls’ to struggle and they did. They ended up picking 10th in this past NBA draft and selected Duke’s standout center, Wendell Carter Jr. Wendell has given the Bulls solid production this season and projects to be even better when he has the ability to play alongside Markkanen.
I know what you’re thinking, it seems like the Bulls are slowly rebuilding and have young players on low money contracts, one of which only played one game so far this season in Markkanen, and another one in Denzel Valentine who is out for the year with an ankle injury, why was Hoiberg held responsible for this team being 5-19? The Bulls decided to extend Zach Lavine this past offseason with a 4 year/$78 million contract and signed former Duke standout, Jabari Parker to a 2 year/$40 million deal. The Bulls front office felt that they were a couple pieces away from at least competing for a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference. It was this expectation and spending that did Hoiberg in. I mocked him earlier, for his record and being surprised he was fired, and I stand by that, but Fred Hoiberg also fell victim to a front office and ownership who did not truly embrace a rebuild and failed to consider the constant injury bugs this team faced. In the long run of this season, the Bulls may thank Fred Hoiberg if the team continues to stink and they get a shot at more standout players from Duke, it certainly looks like they have a growing interest in players from Coach K’s system in recent memory.
Hoiberg’s lack of success in the NBA makes it hard for me to believe that he will find another job in the NBA quickly. I believe his best course of action is to go back to the college ranks where he made a name for himself. With the development that Markkanen and Valentine showed under Hoiberg, it appears that he does still have the skillset for the college game. There is bound to be openings in both the NBA and the NCAA so let’s wait and see where he ends up.
