Bulls Fire Jim Boylen, Adding Potential Landing Spot for Sixers' Ime Udoka

The Chicago Bulls announced they fired their head coach, Jim Boylen, on Friday. While the move makes sense and was expected at some point, the timing of the firing came as a bit of a surprise. Just last week, rumors around Chicago indicated that the Bulls were in no rush to can Boylen.

Although Boylen underwhelmed as the Bulls' coach for quite some time now, the new additions to the front office made it seem as if he had another lifeline for his job. After much thought, however, Chicago is ready to move on.

What does this mean for the Sixers? Well, Brett Brown's top assistant has been on the radar of quite a few NBA teams who are in search of a new head coach. Ime Udoka, the former Spurs assistant, joined the Sixers this season to essentially coordinate the Sixers' defense. At this point, other organizations view Udoka as a potential head coach.

The New York Knicks considered Udoka but went with an experienced veteran instead. Earlier this week, it was reported the Brooklyn Nets also have their eyes on Udoka as they plan to have a new coach for next season. When it comes to the Chicago Bulls, though, Udoka has been linked to them for the last few months.

As the Bulls picked up Sixers General Manager Elton Brand's assistant Marc Eversley to add to their front office, it was assumed that Chicago would surely look into Udoka. Just because they will likely consider him, doesn't mean it's a sure thing, though. According to ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Chicago has their eyes on a handful of candidates -- and they are in no rush to find Boylen's replacement. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_