What should Bulls fans expect from Billy Donovan?
The former University of Florida and OKC Thunder HC brings a level of respectability to the Bulls that has been absent for some time. Also, his system could be just what Chicago’s young core needs.
NBA fans and Bulls Nation reacted about the same when the news of the Bulls’ newest head coaching hire hit.
“Billy Donovan?!?!”
There is nothing wrong with the Donovan hire. In fact, it’s an absolute home run hire the more I think about it. The reason the move was met with such shock was because of the list that was circulating around as the finalists for the Bulls head coaching vacancy.
According to Shams Charania and others, the Bulls were down to Wes Unseld Jr., Darvin Ham, and Kenny Atkinson. So yes, it is absolutely shocking that Donovan was the choice. But it is also a great sign. Billy Donovan likely doesn’t come cheap and he is the first Bulls head coach hire with prior professional experience in quite some time.
But Donovan’s college system and what he has done in the NBA is what should have Bulls fans excited. Donovan runs a spread pick-and-roll offense that is built to have a lot of motion from the players not involved in the main action (the pick-and-roll or “PnR”). This quote is from college notes on Billy Donovan courtesy of Coach Peterman:
“For me as a coach I want to give up alot of freedom & I don’t control every single play, I would like there to be spontaneity and creativity, and part of our offense to be difficult to scout, and hard to figure out what were doing.”
In the 2019–20 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the 5th highest frequency of “Pick-and-Roll Ballhandler Plays” (as classified by NBA.com). This was of course, influenced by the presence of so many talented guards on his OKC roster. But even dating back to his first season with the Thunder (2015–16), Donovan made sure the Thunder were around the top half of the league in pick-and-roll frequency.
The simple reason is Billy Donovan always wants the simple mismatch of two men guarding the ballhandler or roll/pop man in the pick-and-roll/pop.
With Zach LaVine, Wendell Carter Jr., and Lauri Markkanen, Donovan will have a field day drawing up ways to plays their strengths off of each other.
Carter and Markkanen have failed to be huge threats rolling to the rim for most of their very young NBA careers. With Donovan in tow, expect Carter to get plenty of rolls to the basket. This will allow Carter to face many four-on-three situations.
LaVine and White are both capable threats from deep and have elite speed, especially when driving downhill with a head of steam [Editor’s note: Sorry if that’s a Boylen-ism]. This is precisely what will get two defenders guarding the ball, allowing Carter to pick out open shooters around the perimeter and this includes Markkanen.
The real excitement for Markkanen should come from the many ways Donovan will keep him moving. In the halfcourt he will space the floor but he will also swap out with Carter and Gafford often as the roll man. Lauri has some playmaking chops himself — his assist rate has increased every season per Basketball-Reference — and he will get to flex them on occasion.
Defenses will always have to account for Markkanen but of course, that is assuming he gets back to 36% or better shooting from 3-point range rather than last year’s dismal 34.4%. Either way, open looks will be there for Markkanen and Donovan won’t be afraid to adjust if his usual staples aren’t helping the Finnish big.
In semi-transition, Billy Donovan loves to have his bigs set quick drag screen to attack the opposing defense while they are still trying to set up. The Bulls were one of the worst offenses in the league last season (29th in Offensive Rating). The 2019–20 Bulls also were in the top-10 in the NBA in transition possessions per game (17.7).
Despite the Bulls getting out into transition often, they scored on less than half of their transition opportunities. Billy Donovan will bring organization and tactical decision making to a transition attack that has the potential to be one of the league’s best. And as seen with his Thunder teams, Donovan will have the Bulls playing sharp defense. These are all incredibly encouraging things for a team that already has flashed potential on the defensive end of the floor [Editor’s note: Bulls finished 9th in Defensive Rating in the 2019–20 season].
