Skiles Contract Talks Break Down, Jackson Waiting in Wings?

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jun 2, 2005 4:32PM

While Bulls and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf recently agreed to an extension with Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen, he seems to be having trouble inking Bulls head coach Scott Skiles to a new deal.

While the Bulls still hold an option for next season, the Bulls and Skiles had hoped to rip up that deal and sign a longer term contract. However, indications are that Skiles and his agent are pessimistic about getting a deal done soon, with June 30th the deadline for the Bulls to pick up his $2.75 million option for next season. Of course that could always be factored into a longer-term deal, but Skiles has made it known he will not negotiate once next season begins. That's still 4 months away...

The Bulls supposedly have offered a 4 year deal worth up to $17 million -- the first three years guaranteed at about $4 million and a team option for the final year at $5 million or a $2 million buyout. While Skiles' camp denies it, there are rumors he wants $20 million over 4 years, all guaranteed.

With the Bulls sudden success last season and the credit that Skiles got for that turn around, one might think that there wouldn't be such difficulty in getting a deal done. Do the Bulls really see Skiles as their coach of the future? Or are they making offers they know Skiles won't accept to make him out to be the bad guy?

Chicagoist wonders whether something is brewing at the Berto Center. Skiles has a reputation for being a demanding, tough coach who is good at instilling discipline with young teams. Right now, that's where the Bulls are and Skiles is the perfect coach for this team. But as their players mature and the team becomes a legitimate contender, do they need a different kind of coach to reach the pinnacle?

A certain head coach who specializes in taking good teams to the top is currently not working. While clearly open to returning to the sidelines, none of the present opening seem to be to his liking. Oh, and that coach won 6 titles with the Bulls already. Could there be a second coming of Phil Jackson in Chicago? Maybe it's not so far fetched. His biggest issue with the Bulls when he left was Jerry Krause, who's no longer part of the organization. In his place is one of Jackson's former players, John Paxon.

Jackson clearly has found his niche as a coach who takes very good teams and turns them into clearly the best teams in the league. He Turned MJ and the Jordanaires into a team and won six titles. He moved on to the Lakers and got Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to play nice long enough to win 3 more titles. But Kobe's head got too big and he wanted to prove his impact on the team. So Shaq went to Miami and Jackson went on vacation. Guess what... they missed the playoffs! Now the Lakers are trying to bring Jackson back, but does he really want to deal with Kobe again? The Knicks wanted Jackson, too, but they really don't look to contend for a long time with their current roster and salary cap issues. Cleveland looked like an attractive possibility with the opportunity to coach LeBron James but Jackson quickly bowed out and The Cavs just hired their new coach.

So maybe Jackson chills for another season during a Skiles lame duck campaign, and then comes in to take the Bulls back to the promised land.