3 Candidates to replace Billy Donovan if he and the Bulls part ways

The Chicago Bulls have plenty of questions hanging over them after a confusing offseason in which they didn’t choose an identity but instead left themselves somewhere in the middle. 

After trading away DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso, it appeared as though the Bulls were finally embracing a rebuild, but their inability to move on from Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic has stalled that plan. 

Roster issues aside, the Bulls have a win-now coach in Billy Donovan, who was originally hired to take this team to the next level, not to develop young players in a rebuild. 

The Chicago Bulls and Billy Donovan may part ways soon 

We’ve written about the inevitability of a breakup between Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls. 

The context has changed and Donovan is not a coach wired to tank, which is what the Bulls probably need to do if they want to keep their top-10 protected pick in the 2025 Draft.

Bleacher Report concurred, putting Donovan in an article about coaches who will be on the hot seat next season. It’s hard to imagine the Bulls firing Donovan outright, but a mutual breakup could be in the cards. 

If so, the Bulls need to bring in the right coach to lead their young roster and there are some interesting names out there. 

James Borrego 

Borrego interviewed for several head coaching jobs this summer before settling back into his role as associate head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. 

The Pelicans have had recent success developing young players in Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy III and Borrego also had success as a head coach with a young team in Charlotte. 

He’d be a safe choice in that he does have head coaching experience where he took a young team to the next level.