The Chicago Bulls and Fred Hoiberg reportedly already have a deal in place, according to a source.

The deal is believed to be worth in the range of $25 million over five years.

Hoiberg, who recently needed a second heart surgery, is merely waiting to be cleared by doctors before officially accepting the job.

The Chicago Bulls are confident Fred Hoiberg will accept their offer to become the next head coach of the franchise.

Hoiberg played for the Bulls for four of his 10 NBA seasons and is a close friend of Gar Forman.

The Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau on Thursday after five years as their coach. Thibodeau had two years and almost $9 million left on his contract.

Earlier this week, the Ames Tribune, citing sources with knowledge of the situation, reported that Hoiberg has told at least one recruit that his future at Iowa State is uncertain.

The Chicago Bulls moved forward with firing Tom Thibodeau this week as it became clear that the front office had an understanding with Fred Hoiberg that he would accept the job.

Hoiberg played for the Bulls during his playing career and has prior front office experience with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Hoiberg has had a successful run as head coach of Iowa State.

The Chicago Bulls have fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach.

Thibodeau was hired as head coach in 2010.

Thibodeau and the Bulls' front office have had a deteriorating relationship for several seasons. The Bulls' front office entered the offseason hoping to be able to receive compensation from a rival team interested in hiring Thibodeau, but no such market emerged when it was clear the franchise would eventually fire him. 

Thibodeau's contract has offset language that will allow the Bulls to recoup some of his salary.

Fred Hoiberg is widely considered the frontrunner to become the next head coach of the Bulls.

Jerry Reinsdorf said, “The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals. While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone's ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required. Days like today are difficult, but necessary for us to achieve our goals and fulfill our commitments to our fans. I appreciate the contributions that Tom Thibodeau made to the Bulls organization. I have always respected his love of the game and wish him well in the future.”

"When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” said Gar Forman. “But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed."

The Chicago Bulls are expected to resolve the future of Tom Thibodeau by Friday with his dismissal likely unless Jerry Reinsdorf unexpectedly intervenes at the last minute.

Thibodeau is owed $9 million over the final two years of his contract.

Fred Hoiberg is widely considered the favorite to replace Thibodeau.

According to sources, some players didn't endorse Thibodeau's return in exit meetings with management.

Some players have been making separate offseason plans for several summers to get a break from Thibodeau, who rarely leaves the practice facility.

Thibodeau has had no dialogue with John Paxson, the executive vice president of basketball operations, since Paxson suggested to Thibodeau that he cancel an unplanned practice he had scheduled in January and merely hold a team meeting with open dialogue with players. Several players praised the meeting. 

Thibodeau is so isolated that he typically spends all day behind his closed office door.

Thibodeau reportedly never got over management letting Omer Asik and Kyle Korver leave for nothing in free agency, took months to sign his contract extension and bristled at management's imposing of minute restrictions for Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich this season.

Sources confirmed Thibodeau's contract contains offset language, which means the Bulls' financial commitment would be "offset" by the amount he would make if hired by another team before the deal expires in 2017.

Update: The Bulls announced the firing of Thibodeau on Thursday.

As Royce White attempts his NBA comeback through the July Summer League, the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans are emerging as suitors for the former 16th overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, league sources told RealGM. 

White has worked out in Minneapolis this season, and recently had a workout with the Los Angeles Clippers, a source said. The Clippers, and several other teams, remain in strong contention for White's summer league decision.

The Chicago Bulls are giving serious consideration to firing Tom Thibodeau and absorbing the financial hit, according to sources.

The likelihood of the Bulls terminating the partnership with Thibodeau is reportedly growing with each passing day.

Sources say that the Bulls' dissatisfaction with Thibodeau has risen in the wake of Chicago's inability to win a second-round series.

The Chicago Bulls' front office reportedly attempted to have Tom Thibodeau hire an offensive-minded assistant coach.

The coach pushed to Thibodeau was Doug Collins, according to a source.

The Bulls nearly hired Collins as a head coach again in 2008 before hiring Vinny Del Negro.

Jerry Reinsdorf remains the wild card in the contentious battle between the Chicago Bulls' front office and Tom Thibodeau.

Both the front office and Thibodeau would like to part ways, but the Bulls don't want to fire him to have him coach another team next year without compensation.

Thibodeau's contract contain offset language, meaning the Bulls' financial commitment would be "offset" by the amount he would make if hired by another team.

Reinsdorf, according to several sources, was extremely upset with Thibodeau after Jeff Van Gundy criticized the organization during a January broadcast on ESPN for historically undermining coaches.

Reinsdorf, who has served as an occasional oasis for Thibodeau during his rocky relationship with management, discussed the incident with Thibodeau.

The Chicago Bulls have been waiting for a team to offer a draft pick to hire Tom Thibodeau, but no such offer has materialized. 

The Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans are two franchises that have had interest in Thibodeau for their head coaching vacancies.

The Bulls seem determined to hold on to Thibodeau until the NBA's job vacancies are filled, which would leave him out of coaching next season. Thibodeau has been unwilling to step down to give up any of the money owed to him over the remaining two seasons of his deal with the Bulls.

According to various reports, the Bulls would like to hire Fred Hoiberg.