3 Questions for New Chicago Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan

1) Questions for Chicago Bulls new HC Billy Donovan: Reshuffling the Roster?

A move for Paul would qualify, but what if the Bulls have even bigger plans to rework this roster? When considering that Karnisovas sold Donovan on his vision for the Bulls, we must also remember that the coah likely had his choice in jobs. In fact, we got confirmation of such today when news broke that the Philadelphia 76ers are leaning towards Mike D’Antoni or Tyronn Lue after “after a third leading candidate — former Thunder coach Billy Donovan — took the Chicago job”, per Marc Stein of The New York Times.

A second, and even more intriguing tweet from Keith Smith, the man who first proposed the idea for the NBA to restart in Orlando:

"“Starting to hear a lot of buzz that the Philadelphia 76ers are are letting teams know they are open to trade talks if they hire Mike D’Antoni to be their next head coach. Philadelphia realizes that current roster, with all the bigs, isn’t built to be a successful D’Antoni team.”"

We all (think we) know what that means. One of Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons is on the way out of Philly. Which one is open for debate because a case could be made for either. Embiid has had conditioning and injury concerns from the jump. Simmons caps himself by refusing to develop even a consistent mid-range (or free throw) shot.

Either would be an upgrade over what the Bulls have and would open up an entirely new level of relevance for them. One they haven’t experienced since the Rose years.

Let’s say the 76ers affinity for D’Antoni bears fruit and he becomes the coach. Does his system, that didn’t really value bigs beyond rebounds and lobs, really work for Embiid? The 7-footer isn’t a traditional big. He can do a little of everything and when healthy and locked-in might be the most dominant player in the NBA. That last part might be what keeps him in Philly over Simmons.

Speaking of Ben, there is also a belief that D’Antoni could look to bring in Paul as part of trying to modernize a Philly offense that has been sluggish all too often. Simmons without the ball is nowhere near maximizing his potential and Paul still needs the ball plenty in his own right.

Like with Paul, a deal for either could include Porter and the Bulls first-round pick, fourth-overall in November.

LaVine, White, Ryan Arcidiacono, and former-Bull Joakim Noah all sounded off positively on the move. So did Bradley Beal, another potential trade target, even if the fit there is less clear than other potential moves.

It’s been an eventful offseason and it seems like the more that happens with the Bulls the more questions we get. One thing is abundantly clear: This ain’t GarPax’s stuck-in-the-mud outfit.