Rumors

KC Johnson: Billy Donovan very humble and eloquent in his Hall of Fame speech, thanking Bulls personnel and saving special words for his presenters Rick Pitino and Maurice Cheeks. Also shouted out Joakim Noah, who is in attendance, and the back-to-back national champion Florida teams.

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KC Johnson: Billy Donovan on the eve of his Hall of Fame enshrinement Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry and Matas Buzelis are flying in for it, which Donovan said is very touching Bulls ownership/management also here as part of large organizational contingent

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Bulls on CHSN: “I love him, and it’s so much bigger than just winning and losing.” Joakim Noah on returning to Chicago and seeing his college coach leading the Bulls 🥹

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KC Johnson: Rick Pitino and Maurice Cheeks will serve as Billy Donovan’s presenters when Donovan is enshrined in Naismith Baskstball Hall of Fame, per @Hoophall

Twitter

Shams Charania: The Bulls and Billy Donovan started negotiations at the end of last season and continued conversations through this week amid offseason planning, a brief pursuit of Donovan by the New York Knicks, and the draft, free agency and summer league.

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Shams Charania: Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has signed a multiyear contract extension with the franchise, sources tell ESPN. Donovan is viewed as a leader within the Bulls organization, and will enter his sixth season in Chicago in 2025-26 with 800 NBA games coached over his career.

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KC Johnson: Fun fact about Bulls’ first-round pick Noa Essengue: He’s represented by LIFT Sports Management, the agency co-founded by Billy Donovan’s prize recruit at Florida, Mike Miller

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While a long shot to join New York, Kidd — who is under contract for two more years and the Mavericks, per league sources, have shown no interest to this point in allowing their coach to leave — still hasn’t agreed to an extension like other currently-employed head coaches who the Knicks showed interest in during the first stage of their search. New York reached out to Houston to speak with Ime Udoka and to Chicago to speak with Billy Donovan. Udoka agreed to an extension with the Rockets last week, league sources told The Athletic. And according to multiple reports, the Bulls and Billy Donovan are in the process of working on a contract extension.

New York Times

Not that there was any surprise that Donovan would get a new deal. The Bulls maintain that talks had begun on an extension, with Donovan down to one season left on his last deal, before the Knicks had even requested permission to speak with him. "They love him," one source familiar with management's thinking said of the Bulls' fondness for Donovan.

marcstein.substack.com

According to a source on Wednesday morning, the Bulls were close to finalizing a contract extension for Billy Donovan and had been in discussions with the head coach since the season ended. Why the hold up? The source speculated that it was always going to happen, but Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley needed to be extended first and that has now likely happened. What was stressed is that the escalation of the deal getting done had nothing to do with the Knicks asking for permission to speak to Donovan about their coaching vacancy after they parted ways with Tom Thibodeau. Multiple sources indicated that Donovan had no interest in leaving the Bulls, especially for the Knicks position under the current regime, and told his bosses that when New York came calling.

Chicago Sun-Times

Marc Stein: The Bulls are in the process of extending coach Billy Donovan's contract, league sources tell @TheSteinLine . Donovan, of course, was one of five coaches under contract that the Knicks sought permission to speak to. More NBA from me: https://tinyurl.com/3n7ch3py 📷: @CHGO_Bulls

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Marc Stein: The Knicks' request to speak to Billy Donovan was denied and that appears to have helped spark a new Bulls deal. Donovan's previous extension, said to have one year remaining, was secured entering 2022-23 but not immediately announced until late November of that season.

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Shams Charania: Of the five coaches, only one had just a year left on his deal—Billy Donovan from the Bulls. There was some optimism that maybe they could pry him away. But Donovan wants to stay in Chicago. He believes in their future. Think about it: the Bulls and Hawks are fringe play-in tournament teams. The other three coaches are on contending rosters for next year. So whether it’s a contender or a borderline team, the Knicks just didn’t have any success in that lane.”

YouTube

The Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Kidd and the Chicago Bulls’ Billy Donovan are two the New York might circle back to in the coming weeks, according to league sources. The belief around the league is that Kidd and Donovan are looking for contract extensions from their current franchises, and if those don’t materialize, they might be open to joining the Knicks.

New York Times