The United Center is a place where ghosts live. You can't walk past the Michael Jordan statue without feeling the weight of six championships, and honestly, that’s the biggest problem facing any coach for Chicago Bulls players today. It’s not just about winning games. It’s about living up to a shadow that hasn’t moved in thirty years. Right now, Billy Donovan is the man standing in that shadow, and if you ask ten different fans in a West Loop sports bar how he’s doing, you’ll get twelve different shouting matches.
He’s been here since 2020. That feels like a lifetime in NBA years. When Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley brought him in from Oklahoma City, the vibe was "stability." They wanted a "program builder." They wanted someone who could take a group of talented but disjointed pieces and make them a cohesive unit. But as we sit here in 2026, the conversation has shifted from "can he build it?" to "is this as good as it gets?"
The Billy Donovan Dilemma: Tactical Genius or Just a Great Guy?
Billy Donovan is a "player's coach." Everyone says it. Zach LaVine has praised his communication. DeMar DeRozan, during his tenure, spoke about the mutual respect they shared. Even the younger guys like Coby White—who has blossomed into a legitimate star under Donovan’s watch—seem to swear by him. But in the NBA, being liked is a double-edged sword. If you’re too close to the players, do you hold them accountable when the defensive rotations fall apart in the fourth quarter?
The critics point to the "clutch" stats. For a while, the Bulls were statistically one of the best late-game teams in the league, mostly because DeRozan was hitting impossible midrange jumpers. When those shots stopped falling, or when the roster shifted toward a faster, more youth-centric style, the flaws in the half-court offense became glaring. It’s easy to look like a genius when you have a Hall of Fame closer. It’s much harder when you’re trying to navigate the spacing issues of a roster that, for years, lacked consistent three-point shooting.
Donovan’s tenure has been defined by "what ifs." What if Lonzo Ball’s knee hadn’t essentially disintegrated? That 2021-22 start was electric. They were first in the East. They looked like a legitimate threat. Since that injury, Donovan has been forced into a "treadmill of mediocrity" that isn't entirely his fault, yet he’s the one who has to answer for the Play-In tournament exits.
Why the Bulls Keep Doubling Down on Billy
Most teams would have fired a coach after four years of hovering around .500. The Bulls aren't most teams. The Reinsdorf family and the front office value continuity—sometimes to a fault. They see the way Donovan handled the Coby White transition. They see the defensive identity he managed to scrape together even without a true rim protector for long stretches.
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But there’s a financial reality here, too. Donovan signed an extension that was kept pretty quiet, a move that signaled the front office wasn't ready to pay two coaches at once. It’s a business.
What a Coach for Chicago Bulls Actually Needs to Succeed
Success in Chicago isn't just about X’s and O’s. Phil Jackson understood the Zen of managing egos. Tom Thibodeau understood the grind of a 48-minute defensive masterclass. What does the current iteration need?
- Roster Alignment: You can’t ask a coach to cook a five-star meal with ingredients that don't match. For a long time, the Bulls had a coach who wanted to play fast and a roster built for the 1990s.
- Player Development: This is where Donovan actually earns his paycheck. Look at Ayo Dosunmu. The kid was a second-round pick and has turned into a high-level rotation player. That doesn't happen by accident.
- Tactical Flexibility: The NBA changes every six months. If you aren't running complex screening actions to free up your shooters, you're dead in the water.
The Ghost of Tom Thibodeau
It’s impossible to talk about the coach for Chicago Bulls position without mentioning Thibs. He left a scar on this city. He pushed his players until their legs gave out, but he won. Fans in Chicago respect the hustle. They respect the "bench mob" era. Donovan is more cerebral, more modern, but he lacks that "us against the world" fire that Thibs ignited. Some fans miss the screaming. They miss the intensity. Donovan’s calm demeanor on the sidelines can sometimes be interpreted as passivity, even if he’s actually working the refs or the players behind the scenes.
The Lonzo Ball Factor: A Coach’s Nightmare
We have to talk about Lonzo. It’s the elephant in the room. No coach in recent NBA history has had their entire tactical philosophy derailed by a single injury quite like Donovan. Lonzo was the engine. He made the hit-ahead passes that fueled the transition game. He was the point-of-attack defender that made the small-ball lineups work.
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When Lonzo went down, the Bulls became a slow, isolation-heavy team. That’s not Billy’s "system"—it was a survival tactic. But at a certain point, survival isn't enough for a fan base that remembers 1996. The transition to the current "youth movement" led by Coby White and Matas Buzelis is Donovan’s chance at a second act. It’s a pivot. A reset.
Can the Bulls Ever Attract a "Big Name" Again?
There is always rumors. Whenever a guy like Nick Nurse or Mike Budenholzer becomes available, Bulls Twitter goes into a frenzy. Why didn't we get him? Why are we sticking with Billy?
The truth? Chicago isn't the destination it used to be. The front office has a reputation for being conservative. The training facilities are great, the city is world-class, but the pressure is astronomical. A coach for Chicago Bulls is under more scrutiny than almost anyone in the league outside of Los Angeles or New York.
Breaking Down the 2025-2026 Strategy
This season has been about one thing: pace. Billy has hammered home the idea that the Bulls need to lead the league in three-point attempts and transition points. It’s a jarring shift from the DeRozan era. It’s messy. There are nights where they turn the ball over twenty times because they’re playing faster than their talent allows.
But you can see the vision.
Josh Giddey’s arrival was the catalyst for this. He’s the "new Lonzo" in terms of vision, even if the defense isn't there yet. Donovan’s job is to hide Giddey’s defensive flaws while maximizing his passing. It’s a coaching puzzle that would give anyone a headache.
The Verdict on the Current Coaching Staff
Is Billy Donovan the best coach for Chicago Bulls history? No. Is he the worst? Not even close. He’s a stabilizer. He’s the guy you hire to make sure the plane doesn't crash during a storm. The question is whether he’s the guy who can actually land the plane at a championship parade.
History says he needs a superstar. Most coaches do. Phil had MJ and Scottie. Thibs had MVP Rose. Billy has a collection of very good players, but no "Apex Predator." Until the front office delivers that, judging the coach is like judging a chef who was given a dull knife and a broken oven.
Actionable Insights for the Bulls Faithful
If you’re watching this team and trying to figure out if the coaching is actually working, stop looking at the scoreboard for a second. Watch the off-ball movement.
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- Check the "Corner 3" Frequency: Under Donovan’s new directive, the Bulls are hunting corner threes more than ever. If those shots are being generated, the system is working, regardless of whether they go in.
- Monitor the Defensive Rating: Donovan has always been a defensive-minded coach at heart. If the Bulls drop out of the top 20 in defense, his seat will—and should—get very hot.
- Watch the Minutes: One of the biggest complaints about Billy has been his "rigid" rotations. If he starts showing more flexibility with the young guys like Buzelis during crunch time, it means he’s finally evolving past his veteran-reliance phase.
- Listen to the Post-Game: Don't listen to the clichés. Listen for when he calls out specific effort plays. That’s where you see the real disconnect between a coach's plan and a player's execution.
The path forward for the Bulls is narrow. They are stuck between a rebuild and a playoff push. It’s an unenviable position for any coach. But Billy Donovan chose this. He left a comfortable situation in OKC for the bright lights of Chicago. Now, he has to prove that his "program" can actually produce a winner in a city that won't settle for anything less than a ring.
To really understand where this is going, keep an eye on the trade deadline. If the front office clears more veteran space, we’ll see if "Development Billy" is as good as the college scouts used to claim back in his Florida days. That’s the real test. The era of excuses is over; the era of the youth movement has begun. It’s time to see if the coach can actually lead it.