Wes Unseld Jr., a former head coach of the Washington Wizards, has joined the Chicago Bulls as the head assistant on Billy Donovan’s staff, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Dan Craig, the assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers, will also sit out games, according to Wojnarowski on Sunday:
Craig has worked as an assistant in the NBA for a total of 11 seasons.
After the Wizards started the season with a 7-36 record, Unseld was fired as head coach in the middle of the 2023–24 campaign. He then went to a front-office position with the organization.
Unseld worked as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets for six years before to joining the Wizards.
Along with a first stint with the Wizards from 2005 to 2011, he has also worked as an assistant for the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors.
Unseld has a relationship with Artūras Karnišovas, the executive vice president of basketball operations with the Bulls, despite having little previous connections to Donovan. During Unseld’s tenure with the Nuggets, Karnišovas served as general manager until joining Chicago in April 2020.
Unseld was a candidate for the position earlier in the season when the Bulls were looking for a new head coach, before Donovan was hired by the team. According to Wojnarowski, Karnišovas “thought highly of him” despite not being the team’s ultimate selection.
September 2020 saw Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic talked about how the Bulls were considering Unseld because of the connections he had made in Denver.
“I’ve been kind of saying lately that Wes Unseld Jr., I think, if he’s not going to be the guy, I think he’s probably close to becoming that guy because of the relationship he has with Artūras, because he’s been the lead assistant in Denver for the last three years or so, he’s helped with that defense, he’s helped with some player development,” Mayberry said at the time (thanks to Rob Schaefer of NBC Chicago Sports).
After Chicago’s win total has fallen in each of the previous three years, the front office may consider a head coaching change if the Bulls fail to improve on a 39-win season. If that happens, Unseld may find himself patrolling the sidelines once more.
