Chicago Hires Thibodeau As Head Coach

By Justin Worsley

The Boston Celtics defense has been scary this post-season, and people around the league have taken notice.

An unidentified source has told the Associated Press that the Chicago Bulls have hired Tom Thibodeau, the assistant coach of the Celtics to a two-year, $6.5 million deal with a team option. Thibodeau will continue working with the Celtics this month as they try to win their second NBA Championship in three seasons against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thibodeau has been a hot commodity amongst the teams with a vacant head coaching position. The New Orleans Hornets have also expressed interest in the veteran coach, however, the coach was rumored not to have been a top candidate for team MVP Chris Paul. New Orleans signed Portland Trail Blazers assistant Monty Williams on Friday.

Despite making the playoffs for the second straight season, the Bulls were unimpressed with the team's performance in the regular season as well as their early exits in the playoffs, causing the team to fire head coach Vinny Del Negro.

Thibodeau will be a key part in the LeBron James sweepstakes. The Bulls are one of the favorites to sign the two-time NBA MVP due to their young nucleus. President Barrack Obama, a Chicago native, has also publicly announced that he feels the Bulls are a great fit for James.

Chicago has had identical 41-41 seasons under Del Negro. The James-led Cavaliers knocked out the Bulls 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs this season.

Thibodeau, an 18-year NBA veteran, has a very young talented nucleus in Chicago. Along with Derrick Rose and team captains Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls had two first-round draft picks in 2009, selecting James Johnson and Taj Gibson. The young core is talented offensively, however had their struggles on defense. The Bulls gave up 99.11 points per game while only scoring 97.47 themselves.

Chicago is hoping the defensive-minded Thibodeau will fix that. Boston had the fifth-lowest points-against average in the league (95.56) and have only surrendered 91.94 points per game this post-season, second only to the Orlando Magic, whom Boston defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Chicago will pick 17th overall in the upcoming NBA Draft.