After interviewing many candidates virtually, the Bulls have started to conduct in-person meetings this week with the top contenders for their head coaching job, league sources tell Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Stein, the finalists for the head coaching position in Chicago include Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter, and Hawks assistant Ryan Schmidt.
A veteran of the NBA coaching ranks who initially joined the Raptors as an assistant in 2009, Nori spent four years in Toronto (2009-13) prior to stints with the Kings (2013-15), Nuggets (2015-18), and Pistons (2018-21). He has been working under Chris Finch in Minnesota since 2021 and holds the title of associate head coach for the Timberwolves.
Splitter, a former NBA center who won a championship with San Antonio in 2014, worked as an assistant in Brooklyn (2019-23) and Houston (2023-24) before spending the 2024/25 season as the head coach of Paris Basketball.
Splitter returned stateside in 2025 to be an assistant in Portland but was thrust into the role of Trail Blazers head coach during the first week of the regular season following Chauncey Billups‘ arrest in connection with an illegal gambling investigation. He led the team to a 42-39 record the rest of the way and earned the No. 7 seed in the West with a play-in victory over Phoenix.
Schmidt, an assistant for the Raptors 905 in the G League for four seasons from 2017-21, has gained some head coaching experience since then, first with the London Lions in the British Basketball League and then with the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s NBAGL affiliate. He has been a full-time Hawks assistant under Quin Snyder since 2024.
Both Nori and Splitter have been connected to multiple head coaching vacancies this spring. They’re also reportedly considered finalists for the Trail Blazers job, so the Bulls could face some competition if they want to hire either candidate. Nori is also believed to be on the Mavericks’ radar.
Fischer and Stein previously reported that former Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr., an assistant in Chicago since 2024, is also a potential finalist for the Bulls. That’s still the case, according to The Stein Line duo, who say that if Unseld doesn’t get the job, there’s a “strong possibility” he’ll be asked to remain in Chicago as part of the new coach’s staff.
There’s no indication that the Bulls have narrowed down their search to these four specific candidates, so it remains possible that others will be added to the list of finalists in the coming days. The team is in the market for a new head coach after Billy Donovan stepped down from the position in April.
