Bulls Hire Former Spurs Champion as New Head Coach: Report
It was another disappointing season for the Chicago Bulls as they finished the year with a 31-51 record and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Following their disappointing season, the Bulls decided to make major changes as they fired executive president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Bulls are hiring Tiago Splitter as their new head coach to replace Donovan.
BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are finalizing the hire of Portland Trail Blazers interim Tiago Splitter as the franchise's new head coach, sources tell ESPN. Splitter succeeds Billy Donovan as the Bulls' coach after stepping into the head job and excelling in Portland last season. pic.twitter.com/m8e91FrvXC
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2026
Of course, Splitter played seven seasons in the NBA for the Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers and he helped San Antonio win a championship in 2014 as the team's starting center.
Last season, the 41-year-old took over as the interim head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers following Chauncey Billups' suspension after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets.
Splitter led the Trail Blazers to a 42-40 record in the regular season and the team also clinched their first playoff appearance since the 2020-21 season as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
With Splitter's impressive showing in Portland last season his stock as a head coach grew entering the offseason.
The Bulls decided to make him their new head coach after also considering Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Hawks assistant Ryan Schmidt and Bulls assistant Wes Unseld Jr. for the job, according to Charania.
The Bulls landed on Splitter due to his ability to lead the team's player development, organizational alignment on the franchise's direction and vision, and his leadership and knowledge base as a coach rising through the ranks since 2018 as well as a seven-year NBA player with… https://t.co/j9q2h4o25b
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2026
Of course, Chicago has built a solid young core led by Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis and now Splitter will take control of the roster heading into the offseason as the team tries to bounce back and return to being a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference next season.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 11:29 AM.