Chicago Bulls targeting Iowa State’s Hoiberg as next coach

The Chicago Bulls continue to zero in on Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg and remain confident he will become their next coach.

Sources told the Des Moines Register on Saturday that they expect the Bulls to make the announcement Tuesday, but it may linger until Wednesday.

The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported Hoiberg could be named before Thursday’s start of the NBA Finals.

Hoiberg played four of his 10 NBA seasons with the Bulls and has remained close to Bulls general manager Gar Forman, who was an assistant at Iowa State when Hoiberg was a senior.

The Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau on Thursday despite the team reaching the playoffs in each of his five seasons.

According to the Ames (Iowa) Tribune, Hoiberg recently told a recruit that he could not promise that he would be on the Cyclones’ bench next year.

The 42-year-old Hoiberg has had two open-heart surgeries, with the first ending his playing career. Hoiberg underwent surgery to replace his aortic valve last month.

Since taking the helm of the Cyclones in 2010, Hoiberg has gone 115-56, and Iowa State has made four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Thibodeau, whose Bulls were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals earlier this month, had two years and nearly $9 million remaining on his contract.

Thibodeau had a .647 win percentage in the regular season (255-139) for the Bulls — and that was with star point guard Derrick Rose playing only 181 of 394 games because of injuries. Thibodeau’s winning percentage was second only to Phil Jackson in franchise history.