The 2024-25 NBA season will mark the 30th consecutive season as a head coach in Billy Donavon’s professional career, a tremendous accomplishment for the future Hall of Famer. Donavon has had a wildly successful career, even though the last four years with the Chicago Bulls have not lived up to expectations.
Before arriving in Chicago, Donovan had stops at Marshall, Florida and with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He produced 22 winning seasons over 25 years in that stretch. Additionally, he led his teams to 14 NCAA tournament appearances, 2 national championships, and five trips to the NBA Playoffs (which included a 4-3 series loss in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals to the Golden State Warriors).
The Bulls have not officially stated they are in complete tank mode yet. However, there is a clear youth movement happening. Veterans like Caruso, DeRozan, and Drummond are already out the door and LaVine and Vucevic could be following suit sooner than later.
The Bulls will look different next year with the bulk of the playing time be distributed to the younger core of Giddey, White, Williams, Dosunmu, Bazelus, and Smith. A team as of right now Donovan is set to lead.
Whether it happens immediately or Donovan coaches one more year, a break up between the two parties is inevitable. Here is why . . .