Chicago Bulls: Could Billy Donovan find himself on the hot seat soon?

A lot of the discussion surrounding the Chicago Bulls at the moment has to do with what the proper direction is for the remainder of the regular season. The Bulls have just seven games remaining during this regular season slate, including their May 6 road meeting with the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center. If first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls do try and make one final push for a spot in the play-in tournament this season, then they need to turn the corner right away.

For the Bulls to even have a shot at making it in the play-in tournament, they would likely need a collapse from the Indiana Pacers and/or Washington Wizards. Given that both teams sit more than three games ahead of the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings as of May 6, the chances are slim for this team.

The last hopes that the Bulls have hinge on the return of the star duo of center Nikola Vucevic and shooting guard Zach LaVine. Missing roughly the last dozen games due to a violation of the league’s health and safety protocol, LaVine was out since about mid-April. And Vucevic missed the last couple of games for the Bulls as he dealt with an adductor injury.

There is obviously more reason to believe that the Bulls will fair better with LaVine and Vooch expected to return to the lineup against the Hornets on May 6. But is that really the best move for the Bulls heading into the offseason?

Billy Donovan needs to sort out the confusion for the Chicago Bulls

At least if the Bulls do focus on positioning themselves better in the draft lottery order, they could have a shot at getting their first-round pick back. The Bulls shipped their 2021 first-round pick off to the Orlando Magic in the deadline day trade that landed them Vooch and forward Al-Farouq Aminu. But it is top-four protected.

Another question that looms large for the offseason in Chicago is the status of Donovan. While I’m not saying that Donovan should be put on a scorching hot seat right away entering the offseason, knowing where his job status sits is a legitimate consideration. This was not the season that most Bulls fans expected after all of the front office, coaching staff, and roster changes that were enacted since last offseason.

The Bulls now hold a record of 26-39 heading into their final seven games of the regular season. That record is not too far off from where the Bulls finished up last season under former head coach Jim Boylen, at 22-43.

And with other big-name head coaches around the NBA landscape, like Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers and Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks, coming under fire of late it’s hard to tell where Donovan’s status should be at right now. Stotts and Budenholzer could be gone as soon as this offseason if their teams don’t perform well in the playoffs.

The fact that two commonly respected head coaches around the NBA like Stotts and Budenholzer find themselves on the hot seat already shows just how fast head coaching turnover can happen nowadays. Given that, if the Bulls don’t show a significant level of improvement through the first half of next season, it’s not out of the question that Donovan could find himself on the hot seat.

No great case exists for arguing why this was a tremendously successful season on the court for the Bulls. They did improve a bit compared to last season, but it was hard to get worse than how things were under the former front office regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman, and Boylen as head coach.

You could make the argument that Donovan was dealt a poor hand down the stretch this season and that a lot of the players on the current roster don’t fit his system well. And that is why Donovan should at least get one more year to figure this all out.

Tip-off time between the Bulls and Hornets is set for 6 p.m. CT in Charlotte. If the Bulls aren’t able to take down the Hornets on the night of May 6, it will likely be the end of the road for their hopes to even get a spot in the play-in tournament.