Getty Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan looks on during a game against the Washington Wizards.
The Chicago Bulls find themselves in a particularly strange spot for an NBA team; a convergence of disparate, almost conflicting expectations for how their 2022-23 season should play out.
On the one hand, the team finally broke out of the league’s cellar last season, not only advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 but also spending large chunks of the regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. So, naturally, there’s a thought that the club should be contending for a title this season.
At the same time, though, Lonzo Ball’s continuing knee problems probably lower the team’s ceiling, and his is just one of a number of injuries that Chicago has dealt with recently.
Given the contrasting ideas about where the Bulls are (and where they ought to be), one can’t help but wonder what the actual expectations of head coach Billy Donovan are. An Eastern Conference GM weighed in on the situation during a conversation with Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney.
GM Speaks on the Temperature of Donovan’s Seat
Asked whether Donovan could find himself on the proverbial hot seat this season, the rival GM gave a strong reply against such a notion.
“No, not this year,” the GM insisted. “The Bulls don’t like paying ex-coaches, and Billy is getting $6 million a year.”
That said, all bets could be off this summer or during the 2023-24 campaign (and beyond). Said the GM: “Now, if they are disappointing and he does not get an extension heading into next year (the final year of his contract), then I would definitely say he is on the hot seat.
“They’re not there yet, though.”
After two-plus years at the helm in the Windy City, Donovan has compiled a record of 80-79. The team won 31 games in his first year with the team, which was probably a disappointment after the team brought in All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline to aid in the playoff push.
Last year, the Bulls improved to 46-36, but they might have cleared the 50-win mark and entered postseason play with a favorable seed if not for injuries to Ball and Patrick Williams, not to mention a teamwide COVID-19 outbreak in December/January when the Omicron variant was working its way through the league.
Spurs Sound Off on DeRozan’s Return
Before signing with the Bulls as a free agent during the summer of 2021, DeMar DeRozan spent three years with the San Antonio Spurs who are hosting Chicago on Friday night. Ahead of DeRozan’s big return to the AT&T Center, ex-teammate Tre Jones spoke out on the five-time All-Star’s big return.
“Luckily, I got the chance to play with him for one year, so I got to see that up close and personal,” Jones said, via SI’s FanNation. “The amount of respect he has is all earned. He’s a great teammate, he treats everybody the same from top to bottom.”
Added Spurs forward Josh Richardson, who made the move to the Alamo City after DeRozan’s departure: “He’s one of the best players in the league… I know San Antonio has a lot of love for him for the years he spent here… His approach to the game is second to none.”