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Billy Donovan is no longer the head coach of the Chicago Bulls after six seasons. The Reinsdorfs are now searching for a new head of basketball operations and plan to interview several candidates.
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(Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Billy Donovan is gone after six seasons as the Chicago Bulls coach, and the search for his replacement begins.
But first things first, as Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf are busy sifting through candidates for the next head of basketball operations, according to ESPNâs Shams Charania, who listed several league executives and one super-agent the Reinsdorfs plan to interview.
We can only assume they were all âsold onâ Donovan as coach, since Michael Reinsdorf said they wouldnât hire anyone who wasnât a Billy fan.
But now that Donovan has taken himself out of the picture, what will the next Bulls honcho be looking for in a new coach?
Someone who can rebuild the team and develop young players, show patience, communicate with the media, get along with management and help improve the teamâs image with a skeptical fan base that doesnât trust ownership.
In other words, theyâll need another version of Billy Donovan, perhaps a younger and cheaper model.
We got only a brief glimpse of what Donovan could do with a roster full of talent, back during the winter of 2021-22 when DeMar DeRozan was âKing of the Fourth,â Lonzo Ball was quarterbacking the offense, Alex Caruso was evolving from cult hero to defensive star and Ayo Dosunmu was a precocious rookie.
The Bulls suddenly had an identity, and the future looked bright.
We all know what happened next â the career-altering injury to Ball, Grayson Allenâs cheap shot flagrant foul on Caruso in Milwaukee that fractured Carusoâs right wrist, and the eventual downfall from Eastern Conference leader to sixth-seed with a 7-15 finish, followed by a quick, first-round playoff loss to the Bucks.
Billy Donovan was let go after six seasons, as the team seeks a new direction in leadership.
The Reinsdorfs are reportedly interviewing several league executives and a super-agent for the position.
The Reinsdorfs plan to hire a head coach who aligns with their vision, as they previously indicated they wouldn't hire anyone who wasn't a fan of Donovan.
Billy Donovan served as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls for six seasons.

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That was their only playoff appearance during Donovanâs Bullsâ tenure. A recurring theme over the last four seasons was a lack of movement by ArtĆ«ras KarniĆĄovas to alter the direction, resulting in three play-in teams and this yearâs dumping of assets at the trade deadline to better their odds at a top draft pick.
After a 51-loss season, Donovanâs teams wound up a combined 34 games under .500 the last four years, though he was absolved from any blame by Michael Reinsdorf, and Jerry Reinsdorf reiterated in Tuesdayâs press release there âwas never any questionâ they wanted Donovan to return.
But that probably wouldâve meant more losing for Donovan, and with âHall of Fame memberâ on his resume, who needs that? He deserves a chance at going out on top, and that seemed unlikely with another rebuild underway.
So that leaves the Reinsdorfs with a clean slate to hire a management and coaching combo that can resurrect a franchise with one playoff appearance â and one solitary playoff win â in nine years. Charania reported they even plan to look at Creative Artist Agency co-head Austin Brown, the super-agent who attended Evanston High and repped Zion Williamson when the oft-injured player got a five-year, $197 million extension.
Outside-the-box thinking? Maybe the Reinsdorfs are trying something new?
They desperately need to get this right. The last time Bulls fans were really excited was before Game 3 of the Bucks series in 2022 when they came home tied 1-1. The Bulls responded by losing by 30 points, their second-worst playoff loss in franchise history. They havenât won a playoff game at the United Center since 2015, when Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah were still around and Tom Thibodeau was coach.
It only seems like a lifetime ago.
Was there anything Donovan couldâve done that wouldâve changed the course of the Bullsâ history, other than asking the Reinsdorfs to replace KarniĆĄovas a couple years earlier?
Donovan installed an up-tempo offense in 2024-25 after trading DeRozan and Caruso, but the Bulls were never more than a play-in contender, and dealt LaVine in February to end that long and dysfunctional chapter. No big offseason additions were made last summer, as the Bulls counted on Josh Giddey, Coby White and second-year forward Matas Buzelis to carry the offense.
When that failed, a trade deadline garage sale was in Donovanâs future, leading to the end-of-season crash that finally saw KarniĆĄovas get axed.
The decision to leave was Donovanâs, and he said in a statement that he made it âto allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.â It was the right call, of course. Any new head of operations should be able to pick his own coach instead of being forced to live with the ownerâs guy.
So Donovan leaves with his reputation intact, even as his win-loss record obviously suffered over the last few years. Heâs a good guy and incredibly patient with the media, never losing his cool or getting upset over repetitive questions about what went wrong with his team.
KarniĆĄovasâ poor communication skills meant Donovan almost always was the spokesman for managementâs decisions, even up to the Jaden Ivey debacle last month. Hopefully the next executive is more willing to take some heat.
Itâs hard for many to remember the embarrassment of the Jim Boylen era, but Donovanâs arrival immediately improved the atmosphere. When the Bulls hired Donovan in September 2020, LaVine learned about it while livestreaming a video game.
âOh, damn, we got Billy Donovan as our next coach,â LaVine said. âWow. Thatâll be good ⊠really good coach.â
The hiring of Donovan sent a message that the status quo was no longer acceptable, and for a while, it wasnât.
But now the Bulls are back to being a franchise living off its 1990âs aura, almost three decades after Michael Jordanâs departure.
Fans still flock to the United Center, no matter the brand of basketball being played. Itâs like Wrigley Field without the ivy.
âWeâve created this great environment, and we work hard at it,â Jerry Reinsdorf told the Tribuneâs Phil Rosenthal in 2018. âWe donât just open the doors and expect people to come in. Even if we donât win, people leave having had a good time. Sometimes I think weâre running a three-ring circus with basketball as just a sideline. But itâs a great night.â
Maybe thatâs the problem. The basketball should never take a backseat to halftime entertainment or Benny the Bullâs antics.
Itâs time for the Reinsdorfs to change that, and it starts with making the right hires and putting the focus back on the court where it belongs.