The Jim Boylen era in Chicago can best be described as tumultuous. After assuming the role of head coach in the aftermath of the team’s decision to fire Frank Hoiberg, Boylen has led the team to a 5-13 record while trying to implement a culture in the Windy City that nearly led to an all-out revolt by his players.
Despite all of this, the Bulls brass believes Boylen deserves a chance to coach beyond this year, which is why he wasn’t given the interim tag when he was promoted and was given the chance to coach next season. As it turns out, Chicago didn’t think it was paying him enough, as a report indicated that Boylen got a new contract on Saturday with a pay raise.
The news was first reported by Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, with additional confirmation coming from Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen has agreed to a new deal with the franchise, increasing the salary on the remaining two seasons of his contract (this year and 2019-20).
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 13, 2019
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN included some more details, saying that his full deal isn’t guaranteed in the event Chicago wants to sit down at the negotiating table in the offseason, either with Boylen or someone else.
Chicago coach Jim Boylen has $1M of a $1.6M salary guaranteed for the 2019-20 season, league sources tell ESPN. This leaves Bulls flexibility in offseason if franchise wants to conduct a search, or decides to negotiate a more standard NBA coaching contract with Boylen.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 13, 2019
Cowley brought word that Boylen was still operating under the associate head coach contract he had while Hoiberg was in town.
“When he was first named head coach, Boylen was working on his associate head coaching deal, which paid him just over $800,000 the rest of this season and through next season,” Cowley wrote. “The Sun-Times reported that Boylen was betting on himself to earn that increase, at least for 2019-20.”
There’s certainly something to believing you have your guy and making sure he’s compensated fairly, but the Boylen era in Chicago hasn’t exactly gone smoothly thus far. Beyond the aforementioned tension that existed when he first got the job that nearly led to players skipping a practice, the Bulls’ offense has struggled mightily with Boylen at the helm.
#Bulls in 18 games under Boylen:
5-13 record
97.5 PPG (29th)
100.6 Off RTG (30th)
111.5 Def RTG (24th)
54.5 Ast% (28th)
15.8 TOV% (28th)
96.50 Pace (28th)— Kevin Anderson (@Kevin_NBCS) January 12, 2019
Still, Chicago’s front office must be sold on Boylen being the best option, and as such, they’re making sure he’s financially taken care of for the next two years.
