The Chicago Bulls have finally cleaned house in the front office and are ready to move forward under new leadership — so long as that leadership is comfortable inheriting Billy Donovan as head coach.
Because what GM wants to pick their own coach? That just seems like a ridiculous thing to ask for.
This is the same Billy Donovan, by the way, who has a record of 224-254 as head coach of the Bulls. The same Billy Donovan who has led Chicago to the playoffs once in six years and has a single playoff victory to show for it.
Is this mediocrity all Donovan's fault? Absolutely not. You can argue that he did a decent job with the rosters he was given. But this isn't Erik Spoelstra in Miami, or Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, or Steve Kerr in Golden State.
This ownership group is adamant it's on board with restructuring the franchise. Except that it's really not, because it's talking out of both sides of its mouth with this Donovan mandate.
Bulls' refusal to move on from Billy Donovan will hurt GM search
Bulls CEO Michael Reinsdorf had some interesting things to say about Donovan when he spoke to reporters after letting go of executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.
"Over the last few months, I started looking at where we were at and I thought to myself, 'How are we going to get out of this mess?' Reinsdorf said per ESPN.
He also said: "If Billy wants to be our coach and someone's not interested in that, then they're probably not the right candidate for us."
Then, the kicker:
"I just felt like now is the time. We tried the other route. It didn't work. We failed and now we're in position to get this right -- clean slate."
So Reinsdorf admitted the Bulls are a mess right now. Very true. He also said if a new GM doesn't want Donovan — who's currently the head coach of this "mess" — they're not the right person to lead the team forward. OK?
He also said that what the organization has been trying to do isn't working and now's the time for a "clean slate." But to lead this "clean slate," you'll be forced to employ the head coach of the previous "mess."
Seems contradictory at best, an impossible task at worst.
Bulls won't escape mediocrity until they can get out of their own way
Frankly, this isn't the worst job to take. Chicago will have the most cap space of any team in the NBA this summer, control of all its own first-round picks, a bevy of second-round selections and two franchise cornerstones in place in Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis.
But ownership is already proving that any new GM will not have complete autonomy; in fact, their first act will be to accept a head coach rather than find one. Typically, a new front office will find a head coach that fits its vision, not build its vision around the old coach.
A coach that's led a "mess" of a franchise to one playoff win in six seasons.