OKLAHOMA CITY — This can’t be what Billy Donovan had in mind for himself when he accepted the Bulls’ coaching job in 2020.
‘‘This’’ being coaching a below-.500 team that’s staring down a roster overhaul and might be on its way to a full-on rebuild. It couldn’t possibly be where Donovan envisioned himself, right? One would imagine not, considering that’s what he left with the Thunder after the 2019-20 season.
A quick look at the stories from his hiring supports the fact that Donovan was brought in to lead the Bulls back to consistent playoff contention. Instead, Donovan has added only one playoff trip to his résumé.
‘‘It was more about who I’m working with,’’ Donovan said in answering a question about his vision when he joined the Bulls. ‘‘The vision was, ‘Who am I connected with? Who am I sharing every single day with?’ Those kinds of things.’’
The team, he said, wasn’t a huge factor in his decision because ‘‘that can always change.’’ Now Donovan is facing the reality of that.
The Bulls entered their game Wednesday against the Thunder with a 5-10 record, trade rumors swirling, a franchise player who hasn’t denied he wants out and the very real possibility of a rebuild looming. Continuity was offered as the answer for the Bulls’ failures last season, but it appears to have made things worse.
Meanwhile, the team Donovan left in 2020 is now surging. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered play Wednesday seventh in the NBA in points per game (29.6) and first in steals per game (2.5). The Thunder were eighth in offensive rating and had the fourth-best defense in the league. Their 8.5 net rating was the second-best in the NBA to that of the Celtics.
The Bulls, in comparison, didn’t have a player among the top 20 in scoring and had an offensive rating better than only three teams in the league.
After coaching the Thunder to a 243-157 record and five playoff appearances in five seasons, Donovan left when the team opted to rebuild. Less than four years later, the Thunder are reaping the rewards of general manager Sam Presti’s work and the Bulls are in the same place they were when Donovan was hired.
Fifteen games into Jim Boylen’s final season with the Bulls, they sat at 5-10. The Bulls finished that COVID-shortened season 22-42, 11th in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago is supposed to be bigger, better and brighter than the small-town lights of Oklahoma City. It is a sports market that, by all accounts, should add to a person’s relevance in the national sports landscape.
But for Donovan, who signed a contract extension before the 2022-23 season, the last three-plus seasons have been more of a disappearing act.
It hasn’t necessarily been a result of his efforts, either. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas continued to preach continuity despite all signs pointing to the core not working. The knee injury to guard Lonzo Ball in January 2022 — with the Bulls atop the Eastern Conference — was devastating on multiple fronts. But it has been nearly two years since Ball suited up, and the Bulls haven’t gotten past it.
The Bulls continue to say they have the talent to be in a better position than they are, but their inability to improve on issues such as slow starts, subpar three-point shooting and inconsistency on defense says otherwise.
In the midst of the problems he unwittingly signed up for when he became the Bulls’ coach, Donovan says he’s focused on the day-to-day.
‘‘We’re in the middle of the season,’’ he said. ‘‘I just focus on what we can do with this group each and every day to try and help them get better.’’
