Chicago Bulls: 3 players that broke through under Billy Donovan

There’s a lot to be excited about heading into the 2020-21 season for the Chicago Bulls after the hire of former OKC Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.

A very solid hire was made by the Chicago Bulls first year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley, with former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan set to take the place of former head coach Jim Boylen. The patience had beyond run out with Boylen in the Windy City after his second year at the helm.

Boylen finished the 2019-20 shortened regular season in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic with a record of 22-43, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. That led Boylen to finish up his two years as the Bulls head coach with a record of 39-84. He had originally taken over for fellow ex-Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg two dozen games into the 2018-19 regular season.

Other significant changes that were made within the Bulls organization this offseason included Karnisovas replacing John Paxson as the lead voice in the front office and Eversley replacing Gar Forman as general manager. These three aforementioned changes were just a few of a number made to the front office, scouting department, and coaching staff so far this offseason.

Heading into the fourth year of the rebuild, it looks as if the Bulls have a proven winner heading up the coaching staff now in Donovan. A coach that was a consistent postseason contender during his five seasons with the Thunder brings a credible resume to the table for this Bulls rebuild. Which players could he specifically benefit on the roster for next season?

To find that answer, let’s take a look back at three players that broke through under Donovan’s direction during his five season as head coach in OKC.