It took just 1 game to show the Bulls why Billy Donovan is done in Chicago

Billy Donovan's first season as head coach of the Chicago Bulls came in 2020-21 when he helped a young team led by veterans Nikola Vucevic and Thaddeus Young to 31 wins.

The next season, DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball joined Vucevic and Zach LaVine on a team that earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, despite Ball's injury that would keep him out more than two and a half years.

Still, the veteran trio of DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic kept Chicago hanging around postseason contention. At the same time, the franchise ignored the painfully obvious picture in front of it: The Bulls were stuck in mediocrity.

The organization is finally admitting defeat this year as it dealt away Alex Caruso and let DeRozan walk while preparing to allocate minutes to its young players.

Donovan never signed up for a rebuild, though, and after just one game, another painfully obvious situation is staring the Bulls straight in the face.

Billy Donovan is the wrong coach to lead a Chicago Bulls rebuild

Donovan left his post as coach in Oklahoma City after a surprise 2019-20 season in which the Thunder finished fifth in the Western Conference standings behind a resurgent season from veteran Chris Paul.

OKC couldn't have been more straightforward about its goal the following year. Darius Bazley, Lu Dort and Theo Maldedon led the team in minutes in 2020-21; a full-scale rebuild was on.

When Donovan and the Thunder mutually parted ways, Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti had the following to say in the post-move press conference:

"It became apparent that we couldn’t provide him the information on the future direction of the team over the next several seasons to give him the level of clarity that he understandably desires at this stage of his career."

- Sam Presti on Billy Donovan leaving OKC

After joining the Bulls, Donovan confirmed how excited he was to build a winning team again in Chicago:

"The history. The organization. What the Bulls have meant to the game of basketball and to basketball worldwide. I mean, it's an iconic franchise, and certainly to be a part of trying to help build it back up was certainly very, very appealing and exciting."

- Bulls coach Billy Donovan in 2020

He accomplished that, to a certain extent, during the DeRozan years. Had Ball not gotten hurt, the Bulls could have become a legitimately competitive team for multiple seasons.

But Ball did get hurt, Chicago never became the winner Donovan wanted to build, and now he's in the same situation he left in Oklahoma City: Coaching a team committed to building for the future rather than winning in the present.

Then, in the Bulls' season-opening loss to the shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans, Donovan chose to play "winning" veterans rather than players like this year's No. 11 pick Matas Buzelis.

LaVine played more than 36 minutes. Buzelis didn't crack five. Dalen Terry, another potential piece for the future, only played garbage-time minutes.

Julian Phillips, a 6-foot-8 forward who could develop into Chicago's only true 3-and-D wing, played fewer minutes than Ball, who was making his regular-season debut after not having played since January of 2021.

Vucevic played more than 30 minutes. Patrick Williams, for all his warts, played just over 24 minutes despite being 23 years old, a former lottery pick and a newly extended forward the franchise believes is part of the future.

Chicago's two main goals in 2024-25 should be losing games to hold onto a valuable lottery pick and letting its young players play through mistakes.

Losing 123-111 in New Orleans, even with the Pelicans playing without Zion Williamson, accomplished goal No. 1. Donovan clearly opted not to go for goal No. 2, however, which, considering the Bulls' situation, was the wrong move.

Maybe Buzelis isn't ready to play against NBA competition. So what? Chicago would have lost by 22 instead of 12?

Maybe Donovan thinks Phillips' improved 3-point stroke from the preseason is fool's gold. Again, so what? The Bulls lost anyway. Let the young guys find their footing.

Keeping LaVine on the floor for 36-plus minutes and risking another injury, which would tank his trade value even more than last season, makes no sense for a rebuilding team. Neither does sticking Vucevic out there for 30-plus (he finished the night with a plus/minus of -15).

Donovan can't help himself - he wants to win games. That's what franchises should want from their head coaches.

But he left Oklahoma City because that organization was ready to completely retool and look to the future. That's what Chicago is attempting to do. Donovan wanted no part of it with the Thunder, and after one game, he doesn't seem interested in repeating that plan with the Bulls.

It's time for Donovan to go and for Chicago to bring in a young head coach who also has his eye on the future. It's sure worked out in OKC, where Mark Daigneault took over after Donovan left and has helped lead the Thunder from one of the worst teams in the league to a championship favorite.