Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan has resigned after six seasons, opting to step aside rather than work with a new front office, the team announced Tuesday.
President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf made it clear after firing executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley near the end of the season that he wanted Donovan to remain on the job. He said anyone who wanted to bring in a new coach was “probably not the right candidate for us.”
Now, it looks like whoever the Bulls hire to run their organization will get that opportunity.
“While we clearly wanted Billy to return as our head coach, we had open dialogue about the importance of respecting the process of bringing in new basketball operations leadership,” Reinsdorf said in a news release. “Together, we mutually agreed that giving that person the freedom to shape the organization was the best approach for everyone involved.”
The 60-year-old Donovan consistently has said he still has a passion for coaching. The decision to leave the Bulls was made “after a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization,” Donovan said in the team release announcing the move.
“I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls, to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit,” he said.
Donovan was arguably the top candidate on the market when the Bulls hired him in September 2020, a few months after Karnisovas and Eversley got their jobs.
Donovan got a contract extension last offseason
Chicago’s lone playoff appearance since all three were hired came during the 2021-22 season, when it finished sixth in the Eastern Conference at 46-36 and got knocked out by Milwaukee in the first round. The Bulls lost in the play-in tournament the next three years.
Donovan got a contract extension last offseason. Reinsdorf said after firing Karnisovas and Eversley that the problem was the roster construction – not the coach.
Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Michael’s father, praised Donovan for the “class and genuine care” that he brought to the organization.
“We wanted Billy to continue as our head coach – that was never in question,” Jerry Reinsdorf said. “But through honest conversations, we all agreed that giving our new head of basketball operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise. That is the kind of person Billy is – he put the Bulls first.”
Karnisovas’ inability to land a franchise cornerstone player and refusal to give the Bulls a better shot at the No. 1 pick by rebuilding were glaring. He finally changed course before this year’s trade deadline, dealing Nikola Vucevic to Boston, Kevin Huerter to Detroit, Coby White to Charlotte and Chicago product Ayo Dosunmu to Minnesota. The Bulls loaded up on second-round draft picks and did not get any first-rounders in return.
One of the players Chicago got in return was Jaden Ivey from Detroit. Chicago waived him following anti-LGBTQ+ comments about religion he made in videos posted on his Instagram account.
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