Just 16 games into the season, I doubt anyone believed we’d already be at such a drastic fork in the road regarding the future of the Chicago Bulls. Having lost six of their last seven games — including a devastating 107-108 loss to the actively tanking Orlando Magic — the pressure is mounting for this team, with head coach Billy Donovan certainly not excluded from this affair.
Earlier this month, I wrote a piece on how Donovan’s fourth quarter coaching was poisoning this team and actively losing very-winnable games. Fast forward 10 days, and things have only continued to worsen on that end. If things continue at their current rate, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Donovan will still be the head coach of this team entering 2023.
Billy seems like a genuinely great person, and he’s certainly a step up from Jim Boylen, but that doesn’t excuse him from his egregious errors and inability to mold this team into a winner. This Chicago Bulls team is built to win now, and for some reason or other, they are failing to do just that.
Arguments could be made that this is Arturas Karnisovas’ fault for the roster construction, or that poor play from a recently extended Zach LaVine is holding this team down. Whatever the case may be, the blame will almost certainly fall on Donovan’s shoulders first, and he’s not exactly making a compelling argument that he deserves to keep his job.
If the Chicago Bulls decide to move on from Billy Donovan before the year ends, there are several quality candidates to choose from as the new head coach.
Should the Bulls decide to move on from Donovan, they can at the very least take comfort in the fact there remain quite a few quality options available. Several teams around the league have assistants competent enough to be above-average head coaches in this league, while even a few more accomplished coaches are currently unemployed in search of the right job opportunity.
As far as those opportunities go, it’s hard imagining many jobs more ideal than leading the charge for the Chicago Bulls. Having not made an NBA Finals appearance since Jordan’s last run in 1998, whoever brings this team back to the promised land will become a living legend in the halls of one of basketball’s most historic arenas. With so much uncertainty surrounding whether this team should continue with their commitment to win now or blow it all up before it’s too late, hopefully it’s not enough to scare off the league’s top candidates.
Before we dig in to the top 5, here are a few names I believe at least deserve a mention, even if they won’t be odds-on favorites for the position.
Honorable Mentions: Charles Lee, Terry Stotts, Jerry Stackhouse
5. Frank Vogel
Although Lakers fans seem intent on attempting to steal other teams’ talents with proposed Russell Westbrook trades and jersey swaps online, the Chicago Bulls have an interesting opportunity here to turn the tables and swipe some formerly LA-based talent instead.
Despite leading the team to a 52-19 record and an NBA championship in 2020, Frank Vogel was released from the Lakers before the start of this season in favor of new head coach Darvin Ham.
Prior to the messy situation in LA, Vogel registered eight years as a head coach for Indiana and Orlando as well as another eight as an assistant. Vogel has racked up a solid record of 431-389 in his 11 years as a head coach, a mark that would look substantially better without a pair of disastrous seasons spent in Orlando.
The Chicago Bulls would benefit tremendously by having a championship-caliber coach lead this team.
Vogel has consistently been at the head of some of the NBA’s best defensive units. After replacing Jim O’Brien as head coach for the Pacers in 2011, Indiana experienced tremendous growth in defensive impact. This carried over to his tenure with the Lakers. In spite of a relatively undermanned roster in both years, Vogel’s improvisations helped LA achieve the NBA’s 3rd best defense in 2019-20 and the 1st best defense in 2020-21.
The Chicago Bulls are a team currently loaded up on role players with defensive potential who are forced to account for the Big 3’s deficiencies on that end of the court. Having someone like Vogel at the helm to experiment with the rotations could ultimately unveil a more effective way to utilize Chicago’s three primary offensive threats.
Meanwhile, it’s easy to imagine players like Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, and Javonte Green thriving in Vogel’s system. After all, we already saw Caruso do just that, when he had the second-highest defensive box plus/minus on the Lakers’ 2020 championship roster, behind only Davis himself.
4. Sam Cassell
If Vogel would be right for the job because of his championship ring, how about considering someone who has three of them? Granted, Sam Cassell’s championships came during his playing days, but there’s a reason he’s caught the eye of many owners as one of the up-and-coming head coaching candidates in the NBA today.
Although Cassell has never had the opportunity to be a head coach, he’s compiled 14 years of experience as an assistant for several teams around the league. From John Wall and Bradley Beal’s Wizards, to the Lob City Clippers, and the Joel Embiid-led 76ers, Cassell has always worked around star talent — which would come in handy for a Bulls team with three All-Star caliber players.
A respected veteran like Sam Cassell could bring stability to the Chicago Bulls.
Cassell’s real appeal, however, comes from his experience as a player. In a career that spanned 15 long years, Cassell developed a reputation as a dependable guard with a high basketball IQ who understood the ins and outs of the game. He had the chance to play alongside NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as a rookie, winning two championships before eventually ending his career with the Celtics in 2008, when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo made their championship push.
Cassell was a fine player in his own right, however, as he earned All-NBA and All-Star honors in 2004 and averaged an impressive 15.7 points and 6 rebounds over his lengthy career. In fact, Basketball Reference has Cassell on an incredibly similar career trajectory as current Bull DeMar DeRozan, with a 90% similarity score in their win shares per season.
In 2021, Cassell was considered one of the leading candidates for the head coach position for the Washington Wizards. Earlier this year, Cassell also interviewed for the Utah Jazz. Although he ended up settling for an assistant job under Doc Rivers at Philadelphia, Cassell is without a doubt among a select group next in line to lead a team as head coach.
3. Adrian Griffin
If the front office wants to bring in an NBA veteran, however, they don’t necessarily need to look from outside the organization. Instead, they could opt to bring back a former assistant in the form of Adrian Griffin.
Although he’s bounced between five different teams and has 15 years of experience on as an assistant coach under his belt now, most fans reading this will likely recognize Griffin from his time on the Chicago Bulls. Griffin was a key assistant for five years from 2010 to 2015 under Tom Thibodeau, only departing once the front office decided to bring Fred Hoiberg in.
The Bulls attained a record of 255-139, good for 4th best in the NBA during that span. Griffin was there for Derrick Rose’s MVP campaign as well as Joakim Noah’s Defensive Player of the Year performance that saw him finish 4th in MVP voting. If anyone understands the culture the fans expect from this team, it’s Griffin.
Adrian Griffin could be the best candidate to revive the Chicago Bulls’ culture.
The Bulls are far from the only exceptional culture Griffin has played a part in. After brief stops in Orlando and Oklahoma City, Griffin has found a home with the Toronto Raptors for the last five years. The same Raptors that have found diamonds in the rough year after year and produced one of the most consistently competitive teams in the NBA.
Toronto played a big part in helping role players like Gary Trent Jr., Chris Boucher, and Norman Powell reach their full potential. They helped turn the undrafted Fred VanVleet into a bonafide All-Star. Pascal Siakam had never even played organized basketball until the year 2011, and is now a perennial All-NBA candidate. Just imagine what the Bulls could have done with Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. if they had the developmental staff of Toronto.
Griffin was one of the reported final two candidates for the Lakers head coach position this summer, just barely losing out to Darvin Ham. When you factor in that Griffin was a big part of the best period in Chicago Bulls’ history this century, it’s hard to not be intrigued at the thought of having him returning to lead this team.
2. Kenny Atkinson
Among all the options the Chicago Bulls may potentially have at their disposal if they part ways with Donovan, former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson could be my favorite of the bunch.
After seven seasons as an assistant in New York and Atlanta, Atkinson served three and a half years as head coach for the Nets. His leadership helped Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert thrive, and he helped drive Brooklyn to their first playoff appearance since 2015.
Although his 118-190 record as the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach is nothing to write home about, Atkinson’s reputation as a quality coach precedes him. In fact, Atkinson was rumored to be one of the driving factors in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s decisions to sign with Brooklyn in 2019.
Hiring Kenny Atkinson would address the Chicago Bulls’ inability to develop their talent.
Since departing Brooklyn, Atkinson has been highly sought after as an assistant and has spent the last three seasons with the Clippers and Warriors. Atkinson is known to specialize in player development, making him an indispensable asset for these teams with so much young talent.
If the Chicago Bulls were able to coax Atkinson to take the mantle, it would be interesting to see if his presence could help Patrick Williams finally unlock that next level he’s been searching for. Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Dalen Terry could also stand to significantly benefit by having a coach who is more concerned with their personal progress than he is with winning games right now.
Of course, hiring Atkinson would also likely be an admittance of failure on AKME’s part, essentially declaring that this core is not good enough to win as currently constructed. Hiring Atkinson would also likely signal an intention to trade DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, and potentially even Zach LaVine. For that reason, I’m not sure how realistic this hiring may be, even if it’s a sound decision on paper.
1. Mike D’Antoni
So long as Mike D’Antoni remains uncommitted to an NBA team, he’ll continue to find himself at the top of these lists. Regardless of whether or not you believe he’s the best fit for the Chicago Bulls, no available coach has quite the successful pedigree D’Antoni does.
Dating all the way back to 1999, D’Antoni got started early in his efforts to revolutionize the game of basketball as a head coach. D’Antoni made a name for himself by fathering the infamous 7 Seconds or Less offense in Phoenix that took the Suns to the Conference Finals multiple times and helped Steve Nash win a pair of MVP awards. He was no one-hit wonder, however, as he also implemented the three-point-oriented offense in Houston that allowed James Harden to shine as the Rockets won 65 games and took the champion Golden State Warriors to the very brink.
D’Antoni has compiled an impeccable resume, serving as a head coach for 17 seasons and as an assistant for an additional 3, topping off his track record at an impressive two decades spent coaching in the league. He’s achieved a 672-527 record as a head coach and won a total of 54 playoff games throughout his career to date.
Bringing Mike D’Antoni aboard could help get the most out of the Chicago Bulls’ ‘Big 3’.
The biggest obstacle to hiring D’Antoni would have nothing to do with Chicago’s willingness to offer him a contract, but instead with convincing D’Antoni to even return as a coach at all. He’s currently serving an advisory role to New Orleans’ Willie Green at the moment. However, he hasn’t fully committed to his new job as a consultant if the right opportunity came along, “As much as he has enjoyed his current role and last season’s as an assistant for Steve Nash with the Nets in his first season, he said he would not rule out a return to coaching.”
It’s hard to say whether or not an opening on the Chicago Bulls would be enough to coax D’Antoni out of his temporary reprieve from coaching, but what we do know is that he’d be a great fit for a team trying to win now.
Between LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic, the Bulls are loaded up on offensive talent but simply don’t seem to know what to do with it all. Allowing D’Antoni to radically change this offense and once again work his magic is one of very few realistically viable routes to making this team a contender again. For that reason, I’d put D’Antoni at or at least near the top of the Bulls’ wish list, should they opt to move on from Donovan.