Vinny Del Negro Era Drawing To A Close

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Apr 28, 2010 3:40PM

It's widely expected that the Bulls will announce the firing of head coach Vinny Del Negro today, ending his two year stint with the team. We were baffled by the initial selection after the Bulls whiffed on Mike D'Antoni and Doug Collins. A guy with zero coaching experience and only a couple years of lower level front office work? We're somewhat amazed he managed an 82-82 record (4-8 in the playoffs) during his tenure given the roller coaster ride it's been. In fact, we're amazed he made it this far. But if there was any doubt as to Vinny's future in Chicago, coming to blows with GM John Paxson surely sealed his fate. Del Negro may have shown enough promise on the bench to justify another coaching gig some day... just not here. This off season is just to critical to the long term future of the franchise to keep Vinny Del Negro around.

The Bulls, after more than a decade of trying to rebuild since the departure of MJ, are finally poised to land that missing piece. Vinny was hamstrung by the front office's two year plan to stockpile salary cap at the expense of putting together the best roster they could at the time. And looking back, he was likely only viewed as a placeholder coach when hired by Paxson anyway -- a guy to steer the ship until this moment. With guys like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh available and the Bulls finances in order to afford one, this is the time to find the right coach to take them to the promised land. And whichever superstar decides to wear the Bulls jersey is going to have a say. Vinny Del Negro may be relieved of his duty swiftly upon the season's conclusion, but we don't expect Reinsdorf, Paxson and GM Gar Forman to move that quickly to line up his replacement.