Charlotte Bobcats hire St. John’s assistant coach Mike Dunlap as their new head coach – NBA News
The Charlotte Bobcats have hired St. John assistant coach Mike Dunlap as their new head coach, sources familiar to the situation have said.
The news comes as a surprise because although Dunlap was one of the 10 coaches initially interviewed by the Bobcats management, he did not make it to the list of candidates shortlisted to have a second round of interviews with
team owner Michael Jordan.
The three coaches shortlisted were Jerry Sloan, Quin Snyder and Brian Shaw. Sloan opted out of contention for the job where as Shaw was said to be favouring a coaching job with the Orlando Magic. Dunlap made it back into the picture
later and got the job eventually. No official announcement has been made yet by the Bobcats management.
The Bobcats did not renew the contract of former coach Paul Silas after the team recorded the worst season of NBA history, finishing with a 7-59 record. Dunlap will now take over from Silas and start the restructuring of the team
as they head into the June 28th NBA Draft with a 2nd overall pick. Dunlap is presently performing his duties with St. John’s after their coach Steve Lavin took a leave of absence.
Dunlap has spent most of his coaching career in college basketball, where he coached Arizona and Oregon for the 2008-2009 and the 2009-2010 season. Prior to coaching Arizona, Dunlap was also assistant coach to the Denver Nuggets
under George Karl. He spent two season with the Nuggets, and the team compiled a 95-69 record during those two years while also reaching the NBA Playoffs in both seasons.
The Bobcats have some tough decision ahead which Dunlap will have to face as soon as he takes over the job. The first of those is the fate of the 2nd overall pick that the Bobcats have in this year’s NBA Draft. There
were rumours that the Bobcats were willing to trade their number 2 pick for a marquee player. They need to decide whether they will trade the pick or keep it, and who will they draft at number 2.
That will be followed by a long offseason where the new head coach will get the opportunity to train his team and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. After an embarrassing season, the Bobcats are charged up to land a respectable
finish next season.
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