The regular season wrapped up for first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls on the night of May 16. A 72 game regular season slate did see the Bulls improve their record a good bit, but it wasn’t enough to get over the postseason hump. The drought is now extended to four years for the Bulls to get in the postseason.
Donovan and the Bulls did end the regular season mostly on a high note. Hope is restored in the core after executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley landed the likes of star center Nikola Vucevic, center Daniel Theis, shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr., shooting guard Javonte Green, etc. at the trade deadline.
Although the Bulls did have to give up two future first-round draft picks (including theirs in 2021), landing a star running mate like Vucevic to slot alongside shooting guard Zach LaVine is a big deal. This could not only mean that more stars want to come play in Chicago, but that this team is ready to contend to make at least a decent playoff run in the near future.
Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls end the regular season with 31 wins
Following their win over the divisional foe Milwaukee Bucks at home on May 16, the Bulls finished up the regular season with a record of 31-41. That is a nine win and one loss improvement compared to last season’s record which the Bulls posted through just 63 games played. They finished up last season with a record of 22-43 under former head coach Jim Boylen.
Billy Donovan: For me, I’m disappointed. I’ll always look at things I could’ve done better in a unique year. I think the guys’ chemistry was very, very good. But (post trade), we changed stylistically. What was hard to overcome was the amount of games we gave away.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 17, 2021
In the end-of-season press conferences on May 16 and 17, Donovan also gave his thoughts on the direction of the team and his reflections on the regular season. He mentioned multiple times the “disappointed” feelings he had about the regular season, and about the Bulls missing the postseason again.
With more change likely on the horizon for the Bulls, there’s plenty who probably impressed Donovan in the season that was. To counter that, who should Donovan be disappointed in for their play in the 2020-21 campaign?