It appears that the Bulls overpay head coach Billy Donovan.

 

 

 

 

When Arturas Karnisovas learned that Billy Donovan had joined the Chicago Bulls as their new head coach in September 2020, he believed he was receiving a coach on an “other level.”

Nobody contests Donovan’s status as a legendary college coach who led Florida to consecutive NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007. His 243 victories in five seasons with Oklahoma City, including postseason trips each year, look remarkable on the surface.

But did Donovan do a good job of maximizing individual and team potential?

After all, he inherited a talented Oklahoma City squad in 2015-16 that had two MVP-caliber players in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Thus, it came as little surprise to many when the Thunder won 11 postseason games in addition to 55 regular-season games.

Even after Durant left in 2016, Donovan was still able to work with players who were eligible for the All-Star team. Paul George came in third place in the 2019 NBA MVP vote; Chris Paul came in seventh in 2020.

Donovan consistently appeared to be subjected to the same critiques, regardless of roster changes: an excessive dependence on top players, a deficiency of in-game adjustments, and unoriginal offensive plans.

Bulls supporters are all too acquainted with those criticisms.

Donovan was soon surrounded by seasoned All-Star players from the Bulls. DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, and Zach LaVine are all very effective offensive players who don’t mind passing the ball around.

Aside from a brief altercation between Donovan and LaVine during the previous season, the core group appeared open to adopting any strategy that Donovan thought would be successful.

The issue, though, was that in January of last season, players appeared to be just as perplexed by the approach as were supporters who had been informed prior to the start of the season that the offensive would be centered around “randomness.”

Even though Donovan is highly praised for his communication skills, the Bulls have lost games due to mistakes in detail on several occasions, particularly in the latter stages of games. He has a 117-119 regular-season record and a 1-4 postseason record in his three seasons as Chicago’s coach.

Despite the limitations of his core group, the team’s defensive rating was sixth. However, a big part of the team’s defensive prowess may be attributed to Alex Caruso.

Donovan led OKC to eighteen playoff victories. However, there are a lot of unfavorable similarities between his tenure there and today, such as the failure to successfully nurture emerging talent.

His close alignment with the front office on personnel and decision-making, which was a major factor in his hiring choice, makes his Chicago missteps all the more apparent.

The NBA is a “what have you done for me lately?” league, and coaches who have been successful in creating winning cultures are often dismissed.

Maybe the Bulls might consider asking Donovan this: “What have you done for me?”