Since the global pandemic halted the NBA and life as the world knows it, Jim Boylen has been approaching his job with the same focus and intensity he always has.

He watches film. He talks to his staff. He communicates with management and ownership.

You don’t last 20-plus years in the NBA by being naïve. The Bulls’ coach knows a new hire to head basketball operations could bring change.

He also knows the support he has felt from Bulls president and chief operating officer Michael Reinsdorf and executive vice president John Paxson. If change is coming in the coaching staff, Boylen would exit knowing he checked plenty of the boxes they asked of him when they hired and extended him, though detractors will point to his 39-84 record as coach of the Bulls when the NBA suspended its season.

Multiple outlets, including NBC Sports Chicago, have reported that Arturas Karnisovas, who is on the verge of being announced as the new head of basketball operations, will have autonomy to determine the future of the franchise. That includes the coaching staff, sources have said. That said, the uncertainty of the NBA schedule because of the league hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus leaves plenty of unknown regarding Boylen's future.

Would Karnisovas want to pile change on top of change at a time the balance of the 2019-20 season is unknown? Boylen obviously would like to have a conversation with Karnisovas about his and his staff’s future. Whether that happens is unknown for now.

Upon his initial hiring and, later, a contract extension, Paxson always touted Boylen’s teaching ability in practice and ability to hold players accountable. Boylen consistently talked about establishing a style of play — proudly pointing to the Bulls’ “shot profile” that featured more 3-pointers and league-leading attempts at the rim — despite carrying the second-lowest offensive rating in the league in 2019-20.

The Bulls had matched their victory total from 2018-19 (22) with 17 games to play when the NBA halted. And Boylen believed he challenged LaVine to be a better two-way player and helped spur Coby White’s development by not giving him entitlement minutes.

Of course, none of this, nor the fact Boylen has two years remaining on his deal, may matter for Karnisovas. It’s common practice in professional sports for a head executive to want to hire his own coach.

Heck, Paxson fired friend and former teammate Bill Cartwright, whom he inherited from Jerry Krause, shortly into his first full season as lead executive, replacing him with Scott Skiles in December 2003.

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