Billy Donovan will remain the coach of the Chicago Bulls for the foreseeable future after signing a multi-year contract extension on Sunday, per ESPN. Donovan enters his sixth season as the coach of the Bulls, going 195-205 in his first five seasons in Chicago with one trip to the playoffs in 2022.
The Bulls have gone 39-43 in back-to-back seasons, finishing as the 9-seed in the East both years, but are in the midst of a retool after trading away Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan in recent years to shift towards a youth movement. The Bulls front office decided Donovan is the right choice to continue guiding that young group as they try to stay competitive but get younger at the same time.
Donovan was one of the many active coaches pursued by the Knicks this summer, but ultimately agreed to stay in Chicago on a new long-term deal. The length and specific terms of the contract aren’t known currently.
With how much turnover there has been in the NBA in recent years, Donovan is the third-longest tenured coach in the NBA. He’s tied with Thunder coach Mark Daigneault and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue with 400 games coached, as they were all hired in the summer of 2020. The only coaches who have been with their current teams longer are Erik Spoelstra in Miami and Steve Kerr in Golden State.