Del Negro thanks Reinsdorf in brief message outside Berto Center

Maybe it would have made sense for departing head coach Vinny Del Negro to follow general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson to the podium at Tuesday's news conference.

But the Bulls chose a less conventional route. When Paxson finished taking questions, the media was ushered outside the front door of the Berto Center. Del Negro walked out, made his way through the crowd and delivered a brief message under sunny skies.

"I just wanted to come out and tell (chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) and the Bulls how grateful I am for the past two years," Del Negro said. "I'm proud of the things we accomplished as a team. I'm proud of the players. They put the work in and they have a bright future."

Del Negro has stayed remarkably positive throughout his two years on the job, even while speculation about his job security dominated the airwaves. He hasn't said much of anything controversial, but, nevertheless, did not take questions.

In two seasons on the job, the Bulls finished 41-41 twice, with a pair of first-round playoff losses. The Bulls were hoping Del Negro would be a high-risk, high-reward type of candidate, considering he had no previous coaching experience. But management quickly developed the opinion that he wasn't ready for the rigors of being an NBA head coach.

"The decision I came up with is in order to improve, we needed to make a coaching change," Forman said. "I've had a number of meetings with people in our organization. I think I have a pretty good feel of some of the things we need to get to the next level."

Bulls offer no restrictions: General manager Gar Forman didn't offer many clues about who the Bulls' next coach will be or when he'll be hired.

Forman did not put any restrictions on the next coach. He refused to rule out someone with no head coaching experience or someone from the college ranks.

"We'll try to make a decision in as timely a fashion as possible," Forman said. "With that said, in my mind, there's really not a rush to make a decision. What I will tell our fans is we'll be looking for the best possible coach, leader, teacher we can find that fits this team and fits our personnel. That process will start here in the next couple of days."

In 2008, the Bulls were accused of going with the least expensive coach they could find, even though they were prepared to bid for Mike D'Antoni before he chose New York's vacancy.

"I don't think (money) will be factor," Forman said. "I think (chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) is on the same page, that we want to find the absolute best coach we can find that fits our needs."

Changing of the boss: Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson led the 2008 coaching search that eventually resulted in hiring Vinny Del Negro. He made it clear Tuesday that general manager Gar Forman will lead this search, with input from Paxson and other members of the front office.

Here's what Paxson had to say about Del Negro's two years on the job:

"Vinny did a lot of good things," Paxson said. "He's really a very diligent, hard worker. He did not shortchange us or himself in how he prepared.

"We knew coming into it that he had not coached before. We tried to put a staff together that would help that. He'll be a better coach the second time around, as everybody is. He did a lot of good things for us."