Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Nick Friedell talks importance of Bulls getting their next head coach hire right (Hour 2)
11 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This hour is brought to you by Wintrust.
We've got a special treat for you. You love him. You hate him. You can't live without him. He's our good buddy, Nick Friedel.
Odyssey NBA insider, Nick Friedel. That tweet came from a dashingly good-looking Nick Friedel. Let's bring in Nick Friedel now.
One defining moment of the Karnasovas-Eversley regime. I would say it's not just the Pat Williams contract. It's that it gave a player option.
At the end of it, they thought he was going to play so well that, hey, we'll give you the chance to renegotiate. Just terrible, terrible, terrible.
With Rahimi Harrison-Grody. Uh-oh. On 104.3 The Score.
Well, when you put it that way. Bulls talk on the score. We have our Odyssey NBA insider, Nick Friedel, here on Rahimi Harrison-Grody.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of hiring Bryson Graham for the Bulls?
His appearance is brought to you by the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. Make every day epic. Nick, multi-year NBA reporter, Bulls reporter for many years, primarily covering the Warriors now out in San Francisco. He joins us on twitch.tv slash thescorechicago. My, how things have changed since the last time we talked to you, Nick.
Layla, I mean, a couple hours after we talked last time, it went from, yeah, Matt Lloyd's the guy, Matt Lloyd's the guy, to Bryce, what, who? So I give the Bulls credit for this since the last time we talked. They're trying something that is absolutely different. And I know people were squawking, going, oh, well, wasn't Karnasovas and Eversley, weren't they different? Yeah.
But at least it's still different from what they know, because what they know, it is not working for them. And I feel bad for Matt Lloyd, just in the sense that I know he wanted that job, and it made a hell of a lot of sense, and we'll see over time if Mike made the right decision. But I give them this in that they attempted to go a different path.
And they've got a guy in here that is at least known around the league. And Layla, I tell you, that day after I talked to you all the last time, I started texting some of my friends and I said, what do you think of Bryson? And without fail, like everybody was like, he's a really nice guy. And it's like, okay, well, what else? Like, what else do you know?
And they're like, well, he's pretty good with the draft. And you're like, okay, well, hey, that's a start. From where the Bulls are at, more than anything else, what they need is better players. So I am pro anybody who takes that job and gets better players in the fold.
Well, and I think, Nick, we have to go back to rewinding to what was the discussion, what were the notes that we took, what were our observations in 2020 when Arturas Karnaschovas and Mark Eversley got the job? Because I remember once AK got the job, it was Jokic, Jokic, Jokic, second rounder, Denver, the process and scouting. But outside of that, that was what we focused on.
What do you remember about the outside talk surrounding primarily Karnaschovas at the time?
It was so funny as you bring that up, because it was all Jokic. It was like, whoa, this, you know, this is the guy. Well, what else about that? Oh, well, you know, Jokic. So when you look back and you think about that moment, it was he had a good reputation from his time in Denver.
and eversley was supposed to be the player relationships guy and he had all the relationships as an executive and it built that through time and that's why i'm fascinated to see how this actually plays out because while new orleans certainly has made some good draft picks they've had like no success at all and i know bryce was down there in atlanta for a year all right and they have a nice young core but
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Chapter 3: How did the Bulls perform in the latest NBA lottery?
And I think that's the next big question that has to be answered well before I would think we even get to the draft part of this.
100%. Marshall, if you're the Bulls, you have got to make the right decision here. I know Billy was respected, and oh my God, did the Bulls love to fall into, oh, he's a Hall of Fame coach. Guys, he was a Hall of Fame coach because of what he did at Florida. I mean, he had some success in Oklahoma City and he provided stabilization after the boiling years.
But like to say to Billy, oh, my God, we can't live without Billy Donovan in Chicago. They weren't that successful. You go back the boiling years. They were what they were. And again, we just touched on Hoiberg. The Bulls knew, the front office knew after that first year, this wasn't working out. And it's what I think is one of the single biggest criticisms of Mike, of Mike Reinsdorf, is that
They know that some of these hires aren't panning out and they just continue to stay with it through time. So, Marshall, in saying that as the context, you have to hit on this coach. And like anything else, you've got to get a coach in here. that understands what the front office is trying to build and is trying to build with them moving forward.
Exactly who that is, the name that seems to keep popping up is Sean Sweeney. And he's a younger assistant. He's bounced around the league. He's been in a lot of different places. He's got a lot of respect. Whether he ultimately is the guy, we'll see. I mean, Mike Inori made a hell of a lot more sense if Matt Lloyd had been the guy coming in.
There are always retread coaches, and I know at least there's a faction of this fan base that would love to see Tibbs back. and thinks that it could work again. Personally, knowing both sides and knowing the way things ended, and even more, Marshall, knowing what they need right now, I don't think that's the right thing.
I think Tibbs would roll through hot coals to get another job in the league because he misses it that much. But that doesn't mean that this job in this moment with the massive rebuild that's about to start works for everybody. So I would expect the Bulls to go younger, to have somebody that they can build with moving forward.
But it's all kind of a crapshoot with the different directions that you can go. And I would point to somebody like Jordan Ott in Phoenix. He works for them For the Suns, he kind of is setting their culture after a couple of major missteps. And nobody was sitting there going, oh my gosh, Jordan Ott, whoa. Because most fans don't really know the assistants that well in the league.
I think the Bulls just need to find somebody that Bryson is comfortable with. and who can make younger players better because this team is about to get a lot younger. They need a lot more depth, and they need time to grow within the framework of what is being built.
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Chapter 4: What challenges does the Bulls' new executive face?
And he felt like. With one more push after last year, he could get them there, and he got bounced. And he's done the same thing over the last year that he did after he got fired the previous times. He's gone through all these different... Places in the league and talk to different coaches. He was out around the Warriors. I saw him a few months ago talking to Steve Kerr and Ron Adams.
He just wants back in. So to the point about is it a surprise? No, the surprise would be if the. The breakup led to everybody getting back together. And again, for context, I think that Tibbs' relationship with Jerry and Mike is in a much better place. I think his relationship with Pax is in a much better place. I think the air has been cleared.
So in theory, if that's what they decided, I think it could work. I just think that the Bulls are so far away from where they ultimately need to be It would be tough to make all those different things work again. And there were so many hard feelings at the end. And there's so much history. I mean, Layla, in that regard, it is like a breakup. Everybody knows each other really well.
Oh, it was a breakup.
Rarely does spinning the block work out for either party.
That's just my personal experience as far as breakups go. That's why I'm like, to me, it was absurd. Like, the idea is absurd. I love Tibbs. I do. I am pro-Tibbs. But, you know, it very much was a breakup, and you know this, Nick.
Oh, Layla, I am well-versed in breakups.
Yes!
Aren't we all? Aren't we all at this point in our lives? I think that's why, specific to this topic, I'm sitting here going, I don't know, y'all. No, I think that the important part for... It was pretty bad.
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Chapter 5: What strategies are being discussed for the Bulls' head coach hire?
Well, I think everybody is going out there with the idea that they're going to find some way to contribute to a win. And I remember years ago, the White Sox, when I came here, had a manager who eventually went on to win a world title with Pittsburgh. His name was Chuck Tanner.
And he would go around every day and talk to the extra men, the guys that were on the bench, the guys who weren't playing a whole lot. And he would say, I know you want to play more, and eventually you're going to because injuries happen, days off happen. I need you to work hard each and every day because when I call on you, you have to be 100% ready to contribute to a team win.
He didn't have to pick up the starters per se because the confidence that he was showing in them was the fact that they were starting players. So it's important that it's a 26-man effort. I think that's what Will and his staff has tried to impart to the team. He laid down the culture in spring training, and right now this team is doing a whole lot of things right.
Now, look, it's not a great team by any stretch of the imagination. If this team was in the National League West, well, it probably wouldn't be in contention. But it's not. It's in the American League Central. And when you look around and realize that this team is still one game out, there's no elite team in the Central, teams will get better. Right now the whole division is in the race.
But the fact is that the Sox are in second place. And Cleveland is not a killer team by any stretch of the imagination. They do find on a yearly basis some way to stay in there, which is a testament to that organization. But the Sox are building. And one thing to bear in mind for all of our fans is that there's another wave of talent coming. So there's some very good young players already.
There's another wave of talent in the minor leagues set to come up. and the Sox have won one this year, the first pick in the first round. And so this is going to be added to an organization that already has a lot of young talent.
Real quick, before you let it go, Steve, I made a couple of predictions at the start of the season. I just want to see if you'll sign off of them. I bet my coworkers here in the studio that the Cubs would be out-homered by the White Sox. They're now at 51 apiece, and the Cubs have played one more game. I also said the White Sox would end up with a top-10 offense in baseball runs scored.
Can you sign off on those two things?
I think you're pretty much on the mark. Don't forget that although Wrigley Field has been known as a Homer Haven because of 368 to the power alleys, there are many days where the wind that blows in really affects the baseball.
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