Bulls begin to narrow coaching search with some familiar names

The Chicago Bulls are narrowing their list of finalists for their coaching vacancy, with former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson among those impressing during his interview, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Highly regarded Philadelphia 76ers assistant Ime Udoka and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham have also interviewed, as has Denver Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Charania noted.

Unseld was also cited as someone who made a strong case for the job, simply by the Nuggets advancing to the Western Conference Finals, as relayed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Unseld has worked with current Bulls head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas before, as Karnisovas was GM in Denver prior to taking over the Bulls in April.

The Bulls parted ways with Jim Boylan a couple months after Karnisovas and GM Marc Eversley were hired. They have about a dozen candidates for the job, as noted by K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.