The Chicago Bulls aren’t looking to move on from Billy Donovan. Now it’s up for Donovan to decide what his future holds.
Bulls CEO and president Michael Reinsdorf held a video call with media Tuesday and said the team’s next front office hires must be “sold” on Donovan as their coach.
“If I interview someone and they’re not sold on Billy, they’re not sold on a Hall of Fame coach,” Reinsdorf said, “they’re not sold on a person who’s won championships in college, who’s gone deep in the playoffs with Oklahoma City. … If Billy wants to be our coach and someone’s not interested in that, then they’re probably not the right candidate for us.”
The “if” is the key. Reinsdorf said Donovan is scheduled to meet with ownership to discuss his future on Monday, the day after the team’s season finale against the Dallas Mavericks.
Donovan, a two-time NCAA champion at Florida (2006, 2007), had been linked to the opening at North Carolina, but ex-Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone was officially hired there Tuesday.
The Bulls fired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley on Monday. Reinsdorf said he wanted Donovan to have a greater voice in team-building.
“We’d be crazy not to want Billy’s input in player acquisition from players around the league,” Reinsdorf said. “He’s an NBA coach, he coaches against these guys. Some of these guys he’s already coached. Billy will be involved and will be encouraged … I’ll probably push Billy to be more involved.”
In fact, Reinsdorf entertained the idea of Donovan moving into the front office himself, but clarified that Donovan had not raised that possibility.
“If he came to me and said, ‘Hey, I may want to do a Brad Stevens situation,’ I would sit down and listen to Billy,” Reinsdorf said, referencing the former coach of the Boston Celtics who moved into their president of basketball operations position. “I don’t think that’s where his head’s at. I don’t think Billy cares about titles. Billy cares about being a head coach, and he cares about the players and cares about the organization.”
Donovan, who turns 61 in May, has coached the Bulls since 2020-21 but guided them to just one playoff appearance. They lost to the Miami Heat in the play-in round in each of the past three years.
Chicago, long eliminated from playoff contention, entered Tuesday’s game at the Washington Wizards at 29-49 and on a seven-game slide. Donovan addressed reporters before the game and said he appreciated Reinsdorf’s belief in him.
“I’ve always believed this: The room is smarter than any individual and there are a lot of smart people in that room,” Donovan said. “I think if we can put our heads together and figure out how do we get to that? I don’t have all the answers to those things. I just know the last four years, we have not won at a high level. I want to win at a high level. I want to be a part of that. I think the organization deserves that, I think everyone in the organization wants that, and then everybody has got to put their heads together and figure out, ‘How do we go about doing that?'”
