With the Chicago Bulls head coach job now officially vacant, the team is expected to offer Fred Hoiberg the post, and he is expected to accept.

Unnamed sources told the Chicago Tribune, Bleacher Report and CBS Sports Hoiberg is the Bulls' top candidate and there seems to be mutual interest. The Tribune learned the Bulls could officially announce the signing before the NBA Finals start on June 4.

The Bulls announced Tom Thibodeau's firing in a statement Thursday with language indicating the split was the result of coach and front office butting heads. Despite winning a lot of games over five years despite an injury plagued roster, the Bulls just wanted to move on.

Negotiations could move swiftly between Hoiberg and the Bulls, as the Iowa State head men's basketball coach has long expressed an interest in coaching in the NBA. Further, the Bulls are clearly keying in on Hoiberg right away.

Unnamed sources told CBS Sports Hoiberg told Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard he would be looking for an opportunity to jump to the NBA. With this in mind, Pollard has reportedly already contracted a search firm to find Hoiberg's replacement.

According to the Ames Tribune, Hoiberg even told a recruit in early April he could not guarantee he would be at Iowa State this upcoming season. Pollard also apparently told a group of Cyclones supporters of the coach's intentions.

"(Hoiberg) has always said from day one that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA," the Tribune quoted Pollard saying at a tailgate tour stop. "It's for him to decide when that part of his life he wants to activate.

"Now it's just strictly a decision for him and their family personally, not what he wants to do because he's made that clear. (The NBA is) what he wants to do. It's a matter of when he wants to do it."