The Billy Donovan Dilemma: Right Coach, Wrong Roster?
Billy Donovan’s tenure as head coach of the Chicago Bulls has been marked by steady leadership, player development, and an ongoing struggle to fully implement his basketball philosophy. A respected voice with playoff credentials and a proven collegiate track record, Donovan was brought in to establish a winning culture in Chicago. Yet after several seasons, the team continues to hover in mediocrity, caught between rebuilding and contending. While Donovan has elevated individual players, especially young talents like Coby White, the team’s inconsistent results beg the question: Is Donovan the right coach simply working with the wrong roster? His system clearly has merit, but not every player has thrived under it.
The most compelling example of Donovan’s coaching impact is White’s breakout 2024–25 season. Under Donovan’s guidance, White has evolved from a streaky scorer into one of the most efficient and dependable players on the roster, averaging a career-best 20.4 points per game on 60.1% true shooting. He’s also grown as a playmaker and defender, emerging as a vocal leader both on and off the floor. Donovan deserves credit for helping White sharpen his game, embrace accountability, and build confidence—traits that were previously inconsistent. However, while White has flourished, much of the rest of the roster hasn’t kept pace, exposing a deeper issue: the disconnect between Donovan’s system and the team’s overall construction.
One season that briefly aligned with Donovan’s coaching ideals was the 2021–2022 campaign. That year, with a revitalized DeMar DeRozan, a healthy Zach LaVine, and key contributors like Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso playing elite defense, the Bulls surged to a 46–36 record and even held the top seed in the Eastern Conference midseason. Donovan’s system thrived with a roster that combined veteran leadership, scoring efficiency, and defensive versatility. Unfortunately, injuries, most notably to Ball and Caruso, disrupted the team’s rhythm, exposed its lack of depth, and led to a first-round playoff exit against Milwaukee. Still, that season offered a glimpse of what Donovan could accomplish with a healthy and well-constructed roster.
Since then, the Bulls have struggled to replicate that cohesion. Over the past five years, the team’s roster has frequently clashed with Donovan’s emphasis on defense, ball movement, and team-first discipline. Injuries and a lack of roster synergy have only made matters worse. Donovan’s system requires smart, selfless players capable of adapting roles and fully buying into a unified identity. The addition of Josh Giddey—a high-IQ playmaker—hints at a front office finally trying to build in alignment with Donovan’s vision. Yet, this move may have come too late to save what could have been a more fruitful era had the roster been constructed with that vision from the start.
Donovan has proven he can lead, develop talent, and maintain locker room stability—but he can’t do it alone. The Bulls’ inconsistency is less about Donovan’s shortcomings and more about a franchise caught between conflicting strategies. For his tenure to truly succeed, the front office must commit to building a roster that reflects his principles: versatile, intelligent, team-oriented players who can execute a disciplined style of play. White is living proof that Donovan’s approach works. Without full alignment between coach and roster, his impact will remain limited, not because he’s the wrong coach, but because he’s never had the fully right team.
