Tom Thibodeau has insisted that he expects to be the Chicago Bulls coach next season and will continue to assume so unless told otherwise by the front office.
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The Bulls saw their season end in disappointment on Thursday night, with their 94-73 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers eliminating them from the NBA Playoffs 2015 in a 4-2 series defeat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
For a team with championship aspirations, it was certainly a frustrating end to the campaign, and it was made worse by their lack of energy in the elimination game with the Cavs already missing Kevin Love before Kyrie Irving sat out the last three quarters.
Meanwhile, LeBron James had a quiet night too and yet the Bulls were unable to take advantage due to a poor shooting night. As a result, questions were immediately asked of Thibodeau regarding his future with the organisation.
“Until they tell me I’m not [the coach], I expect to be here,” Thibodeau said, ESPN reports.
“So that’s the way I’m approaching it.”
Thibodeau still has two years left on his current contract worth $9m, and so it remains to be seen how the two parties work an agreement out if he is to be released earlier than expected.
The Bulls coach has been linked with various posts around the league including at the New Orleans Pelicans and Orlando Magic, and it has long been suggested that Chicago will look for compensation in the form of a Draft pick to let him go.
Players cannot be added to transactions for coaches, as per league rules, but Draft picks and cash considerations are allowed and so it remains to be seen what it will take for the Bulls to part company with him.
While it has been speculated for years that Thibodeau has a rocky relationship with the front office in Chicago, sources say that the Bulls are still admirers of Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg and he remains at the top of their list if they begin a search for a new coach this summer.
Although both Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose were full of praise for their coach, the latter spoke after the game and noted that he “loved him as a coach” while Noah added that “now we just don’t know the situation”.
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