Grading the Bulls’ shocking decision to extend head coach Billy Donovan

In recent news that will undoubtedly shock the fanbase, the Chicago Bulls have announced a contract extension for head coach Billy Donovan. This decision comes at a rather shocking time, considering all the negative publicity the team has received in recent weeks and the fact that many were calling for Donovan to be fired prior to this announcement.

Now, fans will have to stow away their pitchforks to see what Donovan can do with this team moving forward. Considering Donovan was in just the third year of his $24 million contract he signed with the Bulls back in 2020, this news feels extremely premature.

In three seasons with Chicago, Donovan has led the team to a 86-88 record. Although this was a considerable upgrade from Jim Boylen, Donovan has on the whole been largely lackluster as head coach.

Shams Charania of The Athletic broke this news earlier today.

Just as the Chicago Bulls begin to rebuild their momentum, news of their decision to extend Billy Donovan serves as another huge blow.

Considering Donovan did help this team break their playoff drought and seems well-liked by the players, it’s fair to make an argument that keeping him around is a good idea. However, I believe most people — myself included — who regularly watch the Bulls would disagree with that notion. Donovan has actively hurt this team’s ability to win games with his poor decision-making in the past, and there’s no reason to believe that’s going to change moving forward.

Ultimately, this just seems like a complete inability to read the room on the behalf of Chicago’s front office. Donovan was an ineffective leader last year, as the Bulls squandered their strong start and looked like the most embarrassing team in the NBA down the stretch.

For that reason, “Snapping a four-year playoff drought”, is not quite the accomplishment Charania makes it out to be. Neither is the non-existent “playoff run” Shams boldly claims encouraged the front office to make this decision. There was no playoff run last year. The Bulls limped into the playoffs and were promptly dispatched in five games by a team that immediately lost in the next round. To pose the facts in this manner simply feels like an embellishment of the truth and a gross attempt to rally the fans in support of this poor decision.

I’m not going to give a hyperbolic overreaction here and call this a disaster. Extending Jim Boylen and then being forced to fire him just months later was a disaster. But I will this situation now has the potential to develop into one. After all, many fans were already holding out hope that we’d see Donovan replaced before the end of the regular season. Whether or not that was a realistic hope matters little, because it’s a clear indication that the writing was already on the wall for Donovan.

But now, Donovan has apparently been inked to an extension of an unknown length of time for an unknown sum of money. If Charania’s report is true, this decision was made months ago, and was purposely withheld from the public. When you factor in all the misinformation surrounding the injury timelines of Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to have any trust in this organization to do the right or honest thing.

Not only was this a poor decision, but it now has me fearful the roots of the Chicago Bulls’ problems originate far above the head coach position.

Grade: D-