former Nuggets coach Michael Malone<\/a>. If that\u2019s the case, Donovan said, he doesn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n\u201cSometimes the NBA schedule doesn\u2019t coincide \u2026 with the college basketball calendar,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI\u2019m OK with that. I\u2019ve said from the beginning, I am going to coach all 82 games if I\u2019m healthy and able to do it. That\u2019s my responsibility and that\u2019s important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
This scheduled meeting with ownership has become a clear crossroad for the Bulls. Donovan hopes the conversation will answer a series of key questions: How do we all see this going forward? What is the direction? How do we build the team back to where we\u2019re in a position where we can compete at the highest level?<\/p>\n
Donovan isn\u2019t asking for an elevated role or a promotion to the front office. But he does want to feel the team reflects his own fundamental beliefs in roster building and player development.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been a believer that when there (are) decisions that are made above my head, I\u2019m going to march forward,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cWhen there are opportunities to voice my opinion or give thoughts, I try to do that as much as I can. I want to help the organization. I think I can do that. But I\u2019m not somebody that has ever been going to overstep my bounds unless I\u2019m asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reinsdorf suggested that he would be open to supplying Donovan with greater executive influence and access if requested. He\u2019s not worried about accompanying any shift with a title change, mostly because that type of formality doesn\u2019t matter to Donovan himself.<\/p>\n
For now, Donovan isn\u2019t interested in assuming a general manager role. If that ever changed, Reinsdorf said he\u2019d hear the coach out. But in the meantime, ownership wants to create an environment where Donovan is empowered \u2014 and regularly encouraged \u2014 to speak his mind about the team\u2019s decision-making.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we hired Billy, I think what was really important to him at that time was that he did have input in the organization, in the players, in terms of acquisitions,\u201d Reinsdorf said. \u201cObviously, a coach is not going to get too involved when it comes to the draft because they haven\u2019t watched these players, but we\u2019d be crazy not to want Billy\u2019s input about player acquisition for players throughout the league. \u2026 Billy will be involved. I probably will push Billy to be more involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
This increased input means that a new executive hire will have to align at some level with Donovan\u2019s philosophies. For instance, Reinsdorf noted Donovan\u2019s severe aversion to tanking, stating that he believes the coach would have left Chicago if he was asked to lose games on purpose. This answer lacked some nuance \u2014 there are many ways to \u201ctank\u201d without throwing games outright \u2014 but it reflected an ethos that is aligned between Donovan and ownership. It stands to reason that this means any executive paired with Donovan will be expected to also oppose tanking on principle.<\/p>\n
Reinsdorf said he doesn\u2019t believe Donovan will need much time to make his decision, which means the Bulls can plan to begin their executive search next week \u2014 with or without the coach. But the Bulls hope this next step will be taken in stride with Donovan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I interview someone and they\u2019re not sold on Billy \u2014 if they\u2019re not sold on a Hall of Fame coach, if they\u2019re not sold on a person who\u2019s won championships in college, who\u2019s gone deep in the playoffs with Oklahoma City, who I believe, with the Chicago Bulls, given the team that he was given, achieved really good results \u2014 if someone\u2019s not interested in Billy as our coach \u2026 then they\u2019re probably not the right candidate for us,\u201d Reinsdorf said.<\/p>\n
For now, Donovan is providing more questions than answers.<\/p>\n
The coach hasn\u2019t done much to tip his hand in the weeks following the trade deadline and in the days following the dismissal of Karni\u0161ovas and Eversley. He speaks often about future plans for developing players like Matas Buzelis<\/a>. He clearly thinks deeply about the team\u2019s future. But Donovan has also been open about the fact that he doesn\u2019t aim to remain with an organization that can\u2019t begin winning again.<\/p>\n\u201cI just know the last four years, we have not won at a high level,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI want to win at a high level. I want to be a part of it. The organization deserves that. \u2026 Everybody\u2019s got to put their heads together and figure out \u2014 how do we go about doing that? And what is the timetable?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ownership\u2019s answers to those questions will set the course for Donovan and the Bulls as they navigate another treacherous turning point for the franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 The Chicago Bulls are not giving up one aspect of their current infrastructure. President and CEO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,3363,920,919,329,3824,24589,6,446],"class_list":{"0":"post-705065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-billy-donovan","10":"tag-bulls","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bulls","13":"tag-chicagobulls","14":"tag-michael-reinsdorf","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nba-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116368769351208558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-BULLS-BUCKS-23_260083433.jpg\")
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan speaks to Bulls forward Matas Buzelis during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n