The Chicago Bulls made a splash on Monday when they reportedly agreed to hire Portland Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter to be the team’s next head coach.
Splitter is coming off an impressive season in which he took over early on after Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested on federal charges related to illegal poker games.
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Portland exceeded expectations as they reached the playoffs with a 42-40 regular season record. Splitter’s been rising up the coaching ranks since 2018, when he joined the Brooklyn Nets as a scout.
After becoming an assistant coach and traveling overseas to be the head coach of Paris Basketball for a Euroleague season, he joined the Blazers last season.
Splitter has quietly built a reputation in the NBA coaching world as one of the premier newcomers. When ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news on Monday, Bulls fans were largely excited about the move.
The Bulls are in a crucial period following Billy Donovan‘s exit and a major front office shakeup, but they now have a leader in the locker room ready to get to work.
They still have a lot of work to do if they want to be a legitimate playoff team, but hiring Splitter seems like a good start.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
