It appears that Billy Donovan will remain head coach of the Bulls for the foreseeable future, according to a report by NBA correspondent Marc Stein.
Citing league sources, Stein posted on his X feed Sunday that the Bulls are in the process of extending Donovan’s contract. Donovan previously signed a contract extension with the Bulls prior to the 2022-23 season, which is said to have one year left, according to Stein.
By signing another extension with the Bulls, Donovan would end speculation about leaving for a different NBA job or returning to the NCAA ranks, where he led the Florida Gators to back-to-back national championships in 2006-07.
Donovan, Stein reports, was one of five coaches currently under contract that the New York Knicks sought permission to speak with for their vacant head coaching position. Donovan is a Long Island native, so returning home to coach the Knicks has been an object of speculation.
That job opened up after the Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau, who was head coach of the Bulls several years before Donovan, after he led New York to its first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years.
But, as Stein reports, it looks like Donovan will remain with the Bulls, the franchise he’s led for five seasons after taking over in 2020 following a five-year stint as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Donovan has an overall record of 438-362 (.548) in 10 seasons as an NBA head coach, but he’s under .500 at 195-205 (.488) during his Bulls tenure. Chicago has made the Eastern Conference playoffs just once under Donovan, losing in the first round at the end of the 2021-22 season.
The Bulls have seen their season end at the hands of the Miami Heat in the play-in round in each of the last three seasons.
But Donovan’s track record of developing young players, going back to his college career, would seem to fit well with the Bulls’ current roster construction plans.
Chicago is looking to build around young talent like Matas Buzelis, the Chicagoland native who the Bulls selected with the No. 11 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft. Buzelis is coming off a promising rookie campaign in which he saw more playing time as the season progressed, making 31 starts and finishing with 8.6 points per game.
The Bulls have the No. 12 overall pick in this year’s draft, which is next week Wednesday, June 25, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.