The Bulls seem to overvalue head coach Billy Donovan
In September 2020, when the Chicago Bulls announced the signing of Billy Donovan as their head coach, Arturas Karnisovas thought he was getting a coach who was on a "different level."
"We feel his ability to help his players reach their potential both individually, and collectively, will mesh with our roster," Chicago's executive VP of basketball operations told the media.
In retrospect, it's fair to question what he was basing those sentiments on.
No one argues Donovan was an amazing college coach, winning back-to-back NCAA championships with Florida in 2006 and 2007. And on the surface, his 243 wins in five years in Oklahoma City, including playoff appearances each season, are impressive.
But how well did Donovan maximize player and team potential?
After all, the 2015-16 Oklahoma City team he inherited was loaded with talent, including two MVP-caliber players in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. So, it didn't catch many by surprise when the Thunder won 55 regular-season games and 11 playoff games.
Even with Durant's departure in 2016, Donovan continued to get opportunities coaching All-Star level talent. In the 2019 NBA MVP voting, Paul George finished third in MVP voting; in 2020, Chris Paul finished seventh.
Despite varying roster configurations, Donovan always seemed to face the same criticisms: overreliance on star players, lack of in-game adjustments and unimaginative offensive schemes.
Those criticisms are all too familiar to Bulls fans.
The Bulls quickly surrounded Donovan with veteran All-Star players. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic are highly efficient offensive players who are not averse to sharing the ball.
And aside from a brief dustup between Donovan and LaVine last season, the core group seemed willing to embrace any system that Donovan believed would lead to success.
The problem, though, was that players seemed just as confused about the offense in January last season as fans who were told the offense would revolve around "randomness" before the season began.
As much as Donovan is lauded for being a great communicator, there were many instances where attention to detail, especially late in games, cost the Bulls wins. In three seasons as Chicago coach, he has a 117-119 regular-season record and a 1-4 record in the postseason.
The team ranked fifth in defensive rating despite the limitations of his core group. Yet, Alex Caruso was largely responsible for the team's defensive success.
Donovan produced 18 playoff wins in OKC. But there are many negative parallels from his time there until now, including a lack of success developing young talent.
The failures of his time in Chicago are exacerbated by the fact that he is closely aligned with the front office on personnel and decision making, a key reason why he accepted the job in the first place.
Coaches who have been successful in establishing winning cultures are routinely fired in the NBA because it's a "what have you done for me lately?" league.
In Donovan's case, perhaps it's time for the Bulls to ponder this: "What have you done for me ever?"
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