The four-year contract extension coach Tom Thibodeau reached with the Chicago Bulls will pay him a base salary of $17.5 million with bonuses that could push the package to $20 million, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
After several months of sometimes contentious negotiations, Thibodeau and the Bulls avoided entering a walk year for the 2010-11 NBA Coach of the Year. In two seasons, Thibodeau has rapidly ascended as one of the league's most respected coaches, and multiple teams had planned to pursue Thibodeau next summer if he became a free agent.
Thibodeau has a strong relationship with the Bulls' Derrick Rose, and his intentions were to stay with the superstar. Rose is rehabilitating a torn ACL and could miss much of the 2012-13 regular season.
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