Billy Donovan hire surprising yet conventional originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
In some ways, the Chicago Bulls inking Billy Donovan to their head coaching position is an outside-the-box hire. Donovan hasn’t worked with president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas or general manager Marc Eversley. Donovan, a born-and-bred New Yorker who played for the New York Knicks, isn’t from the Windy City. Though Donovan initially came from the collegiate ranks, he didn’t coach at Coby White or Zach LaVine’s school in college. This is also not his first time in his position, unlike Karnisovas and Eversley.
For all those reasons, it’s a surprising move. In other ways, this is a conventional one. Donovan did a solid job in Oklahoma City and is coming off a season in which he was voted by his coaching peers as the co-Coach of the Year (along with Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer) for his work leading the Thunder in the post-Russell Westbrook era.
Donovan has always had to manage a Hall of Fame player -- whether it’s Westbrook, Kevin Durant or Chris Paul -- in his tenure in Oklahoma City, so this will be a bit of a change of pace for him in Chicago where there isn’t a single All-Star on the roster.
One person who might benefit the most from Donovan is Wendell Carter Jr., whom I think is the next coming of Al Horford. If you remember, Horford starred at University of Florida on two national championship teams alongside Chicago icon Joakim Noah. This certainly raises the chances that Noah will be brought back to Chicago as a mentor for Carter Jr. And no, I don’t think it’s a good bet that Chicago takes on Horford’s contract that pays him $81 million over the next three seasons (Sorry, Philly).
Donovan’s checkered NBA playoff history -- four straight first-round exits -- obviously didn’t matter much to Bulls' brass. This is a much different roster than what Donovan was given in OKC, especially at the outset with championship aspirations. That they were willing to pay top dollar to fill their head coaching position, as our Bulls Insider KC Johnson points out, bodes well for the franchise that carries a league-wide reputation for running a tight budget.
What Donovan brings is a defensive-first mentality. With Steven Adams as his anchor at center, Donovan oversaw a top-10 defense in each of his last four seasons in OKC. But relying heavily on Adams lowered their ceiling on the other end of the floor during the playoffs. More interestingly, Donovan showed a willingness to go small in the backcourt, closing games with Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder. But I’m not sure the Bulls have the backcourt talent to do something similar. The logjam in the frontcourt -- with Carter Jr., Lauri Markkanen and Thaddeus Young -- is a bit messier.
All in all, I think this is a pretty nice hire for the Bulls. Donovan can show what he can do with a young roster without a big personality in the pilot seat. Donovan has made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. Let’s see if he can make it six.
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