Vinny's fate lies in Reinsdorf's hands

The fact that Vinny Del Negro will be dismissed as head coach of the Chicago Bulls over the next day or two comes as no surprise to those in the know. Upper management was set to jettison Del Negro all the way back in December but the holidays were upon us and the Bulls were very conscious of the bad P.R. that would have fueled at that time. So they waited and now the bell is about to toll.

The reasons for Del Negro's dismissal are many but like in many other work situations it boils down to a clash of personalities. Simply put upper management does not like Del Negro and the feeling is mutual. Certainly the brief altercation between Del Negro and John Paxson should tell you that but the animosity between the two goes much further back then that.

If upper management had their way they would have fired Del Negro the minute the season ended but the process couldn't be completed until Jerry Reinsdorf got involved. Del Negro and Reinsdorf finally met over the weekend and no doubt they hammered out a financial compensation package and a promise that the Bulls will not bad mouth Del Negro on his way out. Those promises are a two way street so don't look for Del Negro to rip into the Bulls organization. Instead he'll likely say that the parting of the ways was for philosophical reasons.

So now the Bulls will be in search for a new coach and once again those in the know are aware that Paxson has a very short list of prospective hires. At the top of that list is his long time friend Doug Collins who he wanted before Del Negro was hired. Circumstances torpedoed the hire at that time but Paxson will surely lobby Reinsdorf again. And the Bulls will have some urgency here since the Philadelphia 76ers have already interviewed Collins for their vacant job.

The other strong possibility after Collins will be Maurice Cheeks. Cheeks has NBA head coaching experience, is a Chicago native and was one of the best true point guards ever. He would further help the development of Derrick Rose and that's no small matter.

The Bulls will look to have a new coach in place fairly shortly because the long time plan was to get free agents when they become available July 1. The new coach will indeed be part of the recruiting tool.