The Chicago Bulls are currently reportedly in the works on a possible contract extension with head coach Billy Donovan, as per NBA insider Marc Stein. Donovan has been the Bulls’ head coach since the 2020-21 season, and the front office is clearly a strong believer of his coaching acumen that they appear to be ready to commit to him for the foreseeable future despite less-than-stellar results over the past few seasons.
Donovan has only coached the Bulls once into the playoffs, back in the 2021-22 season. That was a memorable year for Bulls fans, as that was the first season of the Lonzo Ball-DeMar DeRozan-Zach LaVine-Nikola Vucevic core. They sat in the top half of the Eastern Conference for a good chunk of that season, only to fall off after Ball suffered a serious injury that would keep him out for over two years.
As a result, the Bulls fell off in 2022, entered the playoffs as the sixth-seed with 46 wins, and then proceeded to get knocked out by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, Donovan’s team has failed to make it to the playoffs, falling short in the play-in tournament for each of the past three seasons.
Nonetheless, the Bulls front office clearly trusts Donovan to be the man to take them back to playoff contention. For what it’s worth, Donovan has done as well of a job as anyone considering the roster the team has given him. They also hit their stride towards the end of the 2024-25 season, and Donovan seems to thrive more when coaching a young team on the rise.
Moving forward, the Bulls will be looking for huge developments from the likes of Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and Coby White, and they will look to supplement this young core further with the 12th overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
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Bulls believe in Billy Donovan
The Bulls front office is very much a huge believer in Donovan. This contract extension possibility comes in the aftermath of their decision to reject the New York Knicks’ attempt to get the two-time National Championship-winning coach to interview for their vacant head coaching job.
Donovan’s best season as a coach came during the 2019-20 season, when he placed third in the Coach of the Year voting. He helped steer an Oklahoma City Thunder team that many thought were destined for the bottom of the standings into the playoffs, and it’s clear that his best attribute as a coach is taking teams that are a bit undertalented to places far greater than many believed they could reach.
