Rookie Daniel Gafford didn’t need a private Zoom meeting with his new front office to make his feelings about Jim Boylen known.
Nope, the Bulls big man simply took to his Twitch account to take a shot at his coach.
“I’m going to answer this question, but I’m not going to read it out,’’ Gafford said, while he was streaming some NBA 2K20 on Monday. “As a matter of fact, I will read it out — ‘Do you like Jim Boylen?’ He aight. I don’t like him a lot, but he OK. Got some things he can work on, got some things he can get better at as a person and as a coach. I’m not going to hate on him. I’m not going to hate the man.’’
Great, Daniel, but the 6-foot-10 second-round pick out of Arkansas certainly didn’t do his coach any favors. Not when Boylen’s reputation with his players wasn’t on the best footing to begin with.
The Sun-Times reported several months ago that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas had received some mixed feelings from key Bulls players in private conversations his first week on the job, and that was carrying a lot of weight in the front office willing to move on from the coach, despite Boylen being well liked by ownership.
Besides comments the new regime was hearing from players, the Sun-Times also reported that there were some behind-the-scenes issues with Boylen that also didn’t fall in the coach’s favor, and couldn’t be ignored by Karnisovas and new general manager Marc Eversley.
Add Gafford’s comments to the growing file.
And while Gafford carries only a little weight in the current player hierarchy for the Bulls, he’s still a high-ceiling prospect that showed some raw talent before the season was shut down by the coronavirus.
In the 43 games he played in, Gafford saw 14.2 minutes of playing time, averaging 5.1 points and 1.3 blocks per game.
A source did tell the Sun-Times on Tuesday that the Gafford comments didn’t come as a surprise, especially because Gafford felt Boylen was extremely hard on him back in fall camp. Boylen even admitted he was being a “hard a-- ‘’ on the rookie, but explained that he saw a lot of potential in the center and didn’t want him wasting it at this level.
All fair for a coach that cares to say.
The problem for Boylen is there are still very few players that have come out and said, “Jim is our guy and the right coach for this job moving forward.’’
There’s been way more, “I mean, he has a voice. He’s been our coach all year, so, hey, whatever happens to him is what happens. But for now, he’s our coach. It is what it is.’’
That was the attitude of Denzel Valentine late in the season when he was asked by the Sun-Times about Boylen and if the players were still listening to him.
So why is this entire issue still in limbo? Because the Bulls are still in limbo. The organization is still holding out hope that the current 22-team bubble in Orlando holds firm, giving birth to the “Chicago 8’’ bubble for the remaining teams that were left on the outside looking in.
That would give Karnisovas the perfect opportunity to evaluate Boylen and the way he interacts with his players and staff, making any move he makes fair in the eyes of the Reinsdorfs.
The new executive has insisted several times that he would be “deliberate’’ in the coaching evaluation process, and has one advantage on his side: Time.
“In order for me to keep players and coaches accountable, I have to have personal relationships with them,’’ Karnisovas said last month. “That’s what I need to cultivate. That’s my objective this offseason.’’
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