![\"Bulls](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-BULLS-MEDIA-DAY-33_206819950.jpg\")
Bulls coach Billy Donovan, right, speaks alongside executive vice president of basketball operations Art\u016bras Karni\u0161ovas on Sept. 30, 2024, during Bulls media day at the Advocate Center. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Someone who can rebuild the team and develop young players, show patience, communicate with the media, get along with management and help improve the team\u2019s image with a skeptical fan base that doesn\u2019t trust ownership.<\/p>\n
In other words, they\u2019ll need another version of Billy Donovan, perhaps a younger and cheaper model.<\/p>\n
We got only a brief glimpse of what Donovan could do with a roster full of talent, back during the winter of 2021-22 when DeMar DeRozan was \u201cKing of the Fourth,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Lonzo Ball was quarterbacking the offense, Alex Caruso was evolving from cult hero to defensive star and Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> was a precocious rookie.<\/p>\n The Bulls suddenly had an identity, and the future looked bright.<\/p>\n We all know what happened next \u2014 the career-altering injury to Ball, Grayson Allen\u2019s cheap shot flagrant foul on Caruso in Milwaukee<\/a> that fractured Caruso\u2019s right wrist, and the eventual downfall from Eastern Conference leader to sixth-seed with a 7-15 finish, followed by a quick, first-round playoff loss to the Bucks.<\/p>\n That was their only playoff appearance during Donovan\u2019s Bulls\u2019 tenure. A recurring theme over the last four seasons was a lack of movement by Art\u016bras Karni\u0161ovas to alter the direction, resulting in three play-in teams and this year\u2019s dumping of assets at the trade deadline to better their odds at a top draft pick.<\/p>\n After a 51-loss season, Donovan\u2019s teams wound up a combined 34 games under .500 the last four years, though he was absolved from any blame by Michael Reinsdorf, and Jerry Reinsdorf reiterated in Tuesday\u2019s press release there \u201cwas never any question\u201d they wanted Donovan to return.<\/p>\n But that probably would\u2019ve meant more losing for Donovan, and with \u201cHall of Fame member\u201d on his resume, who needs that? He deserves a chance at going out on top, and that seemed unlikely with another rebuild underway.<\/p>\n So that leaves the Reinsdorfs with a clean slate to hire a management and coaching combo that can resurrect a franchise with one playoff appearance \u2014 and one solitary playoff win \u2014 in nine years. Charania reported they even plan to look at Creative Artist Agency co-head Austin Brown, the super-agent who attended Evanston High and repped Zion Williamson when the oft-injured player got a five-year, $197 million extension.<\/p>\n Outside-the-box thinking? Maybe the Reinsdorfs are trying something new?<\/p>\n They desperately need to get this right.\u00a0The last time Bulls fans were really excited was before Game 3 of the Bucks series in 2022 when they came home tied 1-1. The Bulls responded by losing by 30 points, their second-worst playoff loss in franchise history<\/a>. They haven\u2019t won a playoff game at the United Center since 2015, when Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah were still around and Tom Thibodeau was coach.<\/p>\n It only seems like a lifetime ago.<\/p>\n Was there anything Donovan could\u2019ve done that would\u2019ve changed the course of the Bulls\u2019 history, other than asking the Reinsdorfs to replace Karni\u0161ovas a couple years earlier?<\/p>\n Donovan installed an up-tempo offense in 2024-25 after trading DeRozan<\/a> and Caruso, but the Bulls were never more than a play-in contender, and dealt LaVine in February<\/a> to end that long and dysfunctional chapter. No big offseason additions were made last summer, as the Bulls counted on Josh Giddey, Coby White and second-year forward Matas Buzelis to carry the offense.<\/p>\n When that failed, a trade deadline garage sale was in Donovan\u2019s future, leading to the end-of-season crash that finally saw Karni\u0161ovas get axed.<\/p>\n The decision to leave was Donovan\u2019s, and he said in a statement that he made it \u201cto allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.\u201d It was the right call, of course. Any new head of operations should be able to pick his own coach instead of being forced to live with the owner\u2019s guy.<\/p>\n So Donovan leaves with his reputation intact, even as his win-loss record obviously suffered over the last few years. He\u2019s a good guy and incredibly patient with the media, never losing his cool or getting upset over repetitive questions about what went wrong with his team.<\/p>\n Karni\u0161ovas\u2019 poor communication skills meant Donovan almost always was the spokesman for management\u2019s decisions, even up to the Jaden Ivey debacle last month. Hopefully the next executive is more willing to take some heat.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard for many to remember the embarrassment of the Jim Boylen era, but Donovan\u2019s arrival immediately improved the atmosphere. When the Bulls hired Donovan in September 2020, LaVine learned about it while livestreaming<\/a> a video game.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, damn, we got Billy Donovan as our next coach,\u201d LaVine said. \u201cWow. That\u2019ll be good \u2026 really good coach.\u201d<\/p>\n The hiring of Donovan sent a message that the status quo was no longer acceptable, and for a while, it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n But now the Bulls are back to being a franchise living off its 1990\u2019s aura, almost three decades after Michael Jordan\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n Fans still flock to the United Center, no matter the brand of basketball being played. It\u2019s like Wrigley Field without the ivy.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-BULLS-76ERS-54.jpg\")
A fan cheers to get on the big screen in the third quarter during a game between the Bulls and the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center in Chicago. (Dominic Di Palermo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n