How does the Bulls GM still have a job and why would Donovan be extended?

[dkb964]

The Bulls are the Kings of the East with less success and it cracks me up that they trade with each other. In all seriousness though what is going on in Chicago? How are these men keeping their jobs and reportedly with the coach getting extended? It boggles the mind. I would love to hear the thoughts of fans of the team the most, but everyones opinon would be appreciated. Am I crazy or is this one of the strangest things currently happeneing in the NBA?

[Dominator83]

Our ownership is A-OK with filling the seats and making play-in appearances.

Donovan is really a JAG coach. He's not terrible he's not special either though. The bigger issue is AKME. They're the ones who drafted Patrick Williams over Haliburton. They're the ones who traded multiple 1st round picks for ill-fitting , one dimensional B-list "stars". Donovan did have the team playing a hell of alot better down the stretch when 2 of the 3 were finally moved off the team.

Getting a new coach really won't matter when it's the same morons picking the ingredients. Now that we're entering this summer with a clean slate of our 1sts and a **** of expiring contracts, I'm already bracing myself for them to give away future 1sts for Paul George and/or Julius Randle. Mediocrity at its finest.

[doogie_hauser]

Just think, they would have won Cooper Flagg if their tiebreaker coin toss with Dallas went their way.

It feels like the whole Bulls organisation is cursed after the magical years of the Jordan era

[Expoking]

If I was a Bulls fan in Chicago I wouldn't attend games. The ownership group is taking advantage of the fans, putting out the most mid product possible with no real possibility of ever getting good enough to actually achieve something. Doesn't necessarily have to be a championship, even winning a playoff series seems unrealistic with the current setup they have there. It's a sad state of affairs and I feel bad for the loyal Bulls fans.

[dkb964]

Our ownership is A-OK with filling the seats and making play-in appearances.

Donovan is really a JAG coach. He's not terrible he's not special either though. The bigger issue is AKME. They're the ones who drafted Patrick Williams over Haliburton. They're the ones who traded multiple 1st round picks for ill-fitting , one dimensional B-list "stars". Donovan did have the team playing a hell of alot better down the stretch when 2 of the 3 were finally moved off the team.

Getting a new coach really won't matter when it's the same morons picking the ingredients. Now that we're entering this summer with a clean slate of our 1sts and a **** of expiring contracts, I'm already bracing myself for them to give away future 1sts for Paul George and/or Julius Randle. Mediocrity at its finest.

As an outsider looking in it does seems like the biggest issue is the GM. It is hard to blame Donovan, but at the same time extending him still seems crazy.

[TheGOATRises007]

Donovan isn't the problem.

He's a decent coach. Not like the roster is loaded and he's not maximizing it.

AKME have been terrible during their reign.

[Lalouie]

because fans dont boycott

if fans boycotted games to the point of embarrassing the org they could change the face of the game. but nooooooo. they just sit and whine

[Ferulci]

We are the most hopeless franchise in NBA. Before the Kings (The "Light the beam" team was fun, they drafted Hali), before the Suns (at least they tried). Getting butts into seats for 42 games (41 + the play-in) without getting into the tax is all that matters to Reinsdorf, and his love affair with mediocrity trickles down to the front office.
Donovan is decent, a B-/C+ coach that will find a way to get to 40-ish wins without making any noise. For cheapskates like the Bulls, he's the ideal placeholder.

[pipfan]

I feel like the Bulls are still very profitable. We're a slightly below average team that leads the league in attendance. Our situation turned from "worst 3 in the league" to "moderately bright" with the Lavine trade/Giddey emergence. Matas looks like a home run, and Coby finished the season very strong.

This is a big offseason. They've had good moves, but mostly bad.

As others mentioned, Donovan is fine as coach, but I wouldn't extend him. I think the ownership likes him

[og15]

Just think, they would have won Cooper Flagg if their tiebreaker coin toss with Dallas went their way.

It feels like the whole Bulls organisation is cursed after the magical years of the Jordan era

Better to be lucky than good, and they had Rose, and injuries killed that, sadly

[giberish]

Donovan isn't the problem.

He's a decent coach. Not like the roster is loaded and he's not maximizing it.

AKME have been terrible during their reign.

I think the problem is that AKME haven't been terrible. They've just been solidly below average. For fans this can be worse though as terrible gets fired but with a low-ambition owner below-average can stick around for a long time.

It's also helped some by being in the EC where it's easier to pick up some low playoff seeds or at least play-in teams so they aren't as relentlessly in the lottery.

[Chuck Everett]

Billy Donovan gets his players to play hard season after season. I am just going to blame Jerry "organizations with championships" Reinsdorf.

[Wingy]

They are making money. That’s all they care about, and collecting that tax payout every year while putting enough butts in seats might as well be a dynastic banner they hang up in the rafters.

One of the least competitive ownership groups in the league with negligible at best aspirations. A franchise living off the massive gift that was the Jordan dynasty while doing absolutely nothing to enhance it.

Worst FO in the league level incompetence with AKME.

Plenty are fueled by hope from the end of this past season, but I’ve seen the story before. They are headed for more mediocrity and playin glory for years to come, just with a different cast of characters.

Kings East indeed. Sad.

I used to post and go on and on and on with the terrific posters on the Bulls board on the same topics and ideas and back and forths on a daily basis. I realized it’s a fruitless endeavor while this ownership and FO carry on. I stopped watching games this year. I post about the team very rarely, and when I do, that’s primarily for things like this to let my frustration and disgust with the ownership out.

[Pointgod]

Bulls are a poverty franchise

[Wingy]

Our ownership is A-OK with filling the seats and making play-in appearances.

Donovan is really a JAG coach. He's not terrible he's not special either though. The bigger issue is AKME. They're the ones who drafted Patrick Williams over Haliburton. They're the ones who traded multiple 1st round picks for ill-fitting , one dimensional B-list "stars". Donovan did have the team playing a hell of alot better down the stretch when 2 of the 3 were finally moved off the team.

Getting a new coach really won't matter when it's the same morons picking the ingredients. Now that we're entering this summer with a clean slate of our 1sts and a **** of expiring contracts, I'm already bracing myself for them to give away future 1sts for Paul George and/or Julius Randle. Mediocrity at its finest.

A quick passing shot at the root cause, and longer detail on the secondary issue. Blame the ones that continue to employ the incompetent FO.

I wish they’d spend like a big market team, yet plenty of other ownership groups set financial constraints. They just hire strong basketball people to operate within them, whereas the Bulls owners just don’t care as long as the cash machine keeps ringing.

Ownership, ownership, ownership. Their names should constantly be slandered in Bulls fan socials.

[doogie_hauser]

The Illinois natives loyalty to their team is part of the Bulls current malaise sadly.

If they stated having plummeting home game and merchandise sales, their misery grinch of an owner would be forced to take action to improve the team.

Their current league leading attendance records and merchandise sales (especially retro Jordan jerseys) means the unambitious, penny pinching Jerry Reinsdorf is content, even if he is too stupid that a much stronger and competitive Bulls team would give him much larger profits, even if he had to contribute himself to making them stronger.

He is a bit like the old fart who owns the Dallas Cowboys

[Saints14]

They’re getting a lot of mileage out of “we were in first place in the East for a week in 2022 when Lonzo Ball was healthy”