CHICAGO _ Just as the Bulls wanted to give Jim Boylen the proper authority when he replaced Fred Hoiberg by not calling him an interim coach, John Paxson wants to empower Boylen further. Along those lines, the vice president said he already has approached team ownership about extending Boylen's current deal, which ends after next season.
Paxson, in fact, said an extension is "very possible" but offered no timeline for its completion while addressing the media Thursday at his season-ending news conference at the Advocate Center.
Paxson acknowledged upgrading the assistant coaching staff is possible. Beyond Paxson's emphatically stated belief in Boylen, the coach's potential lame duck status might serve as a deterrent to adding strong candidates.
Boylen has "done terrific things in establishing what we want in this building," Paxson said. "What excites me about our head coach is his passion and plan in place for players to get better. Having a training camp will be huge.
"If we had stayed healthy, we would've had opportunity to win significantly more."
The Bulls, who fired Hoiberg after a 5-19 start, finished 22-60, their first 60-loss season since 2001-02 and fifth-worst winning percentage in franchise history.
