Entering the All-Star Break on the heels of their sixth-consecutive loss, the Chicago Bulls must regroup and finish strong during their final 23 games. Considering this team has significantly underperformed with a 26-33 record thus far after winning 46 games just last season, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has to be feeling the pressure as his team struggles to right the ship.
Donovan originally signed a four-year deal to coach the Bulls in the summer of 2020, and is halfway through his third season in Chicago now. Even if Donovan proves to not be the guy to lead this team to the promised land in the long run, it was assumed the problem would resolve itself when his contract expired at the end of next season.
And yet, the Bulls seem eager to shoot themselves in the foot at every given opportunity. The front office reportedly doubled down on their investment in Donovan after last year’s short-lived playoff appearance by offering him a secret contract extension in private and refusing to share the details with the public.
This offer serves to reward Billy Donovan for coaching the Bulls to their best season since 2015, which makes sense on paper, but actually feels like a terrible misstep considering Chicago completely collapsed in on itself and barely stumbled into the postseason. They’d go on to meet the Bucks, where Donovan and the Bulls would be thoroughly dismantled and steamrolled in five short games that weren’t all that competitive in the first place.
We weren’t fans of this decision at the time the news originally leaked, and we’re certainly not any keener on the decision now, but how long exactly are the Bulls obliged to Donovan now?
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