The Chicago Bulls are finalizing a deal to make Tiago Splitter their next head coach, according to sources, elevating the former NBA champion and respected assistant to his first top job. It is a choice that reveals more about the organization's philosophy than any trade deadline move could.
Splitter, 41, spent four seasons as a championship-caliber center with the San Antonio Spurs before transitioning to coaching, where he has built a reputation as a player-development specialist and defensive tactician. His hiring suggests the Bulls have accepted a timeline that most NBA franchises — and their impatient fanbases — refuse to acknowledge exists.
The Anti-Superstar Play
In a league where front offices routinely mortgage futures for aging stars and coaching searches prioritize name recognition over fit, Chicago's decision is almost contrarian. Splitter has no head coaching experience at any professional level. What he has is a decade of learning under Gregg Popovich's system in San Antonio, both as a player and later as part of the coaching tree, plus stints with the Brooklyn Nets that exposed him to a different organizational model.
The Bulls are not contenders. They have not been genuine contenders since the Jimmy Butler era collapsed in acrimony. Rather than pretending otherwise by hiring a marquee name who might demand win-now roster moves, they have chosen someone who will presumably be granted the patience to build.
Why Splitter, Why Now
The Brazilian's appeal lies in his bilingual fluency — literal and basketball — that makes him effective with international players, an increasingly critical skill as the NBA's talent pool globalizes. He is also reported to have strong relationships with the Bulls' young core, having worked with several during his time in Brooklyn's development program.
Chicago's roster is not devoid of talent, but it lacks a franchise cornerstone. Splitter's mandate will likely be to identify who can become that player, or to develop the trade assets necessary to acquire one. It is unsexy work that requires years, not months.
Our take
The Bulls have been stuck in the NBA's mushy middle for too long — too good to tank properly, too mediocre to matter in April. Hiring Splitter is an implicit admission that the path forward runs through development, not desperation. Whether ownership and fans have the stomach for that journey is another question entirely. Chicago has not won a championship since Michael Jordan's second three-peat ended in 1998. That is 28 years of waiting. Splitter is being asked to end it, eventually, by first making the wait longer. It is either the smartest hire the Bulls have made in years or a placeholder appointment dressed up as a philosophy. We will not know which for at least three seasons.
