Billy Donovan could be college basketball’s hottest free agent if he leaves the Chicago Bulls

Billy Donovan is used to the rumors connecting him to high-profile college basketball jobs. It feels like it happens every time there’s a marquee opening in the coaching cycle. To this point, Donovan has been comfortable sticking in the NBA as the leader of the Chicago Bulls for the last six seasons. While the team has only made one playoff appearance since hiring Donovan, that has more to do with the Bulls’ slumlord-style ownership under Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and a delusional and incompetent front office led by Arturas Karnisovas.

Would you believe the Bulls currently have the best shot profile in the NBA? It’s true: Chicago is No. 1 in shooting location effective field goal percentage according to Cleaning the Glass, a stat that captures what the team’s eFG% would be if they shot a league-average field goal percentage from each location. Throw in Donovan’s defensive success with the Bulls — the 2022-23 team finished No. 5 in defensive rating despite playing with a lousy defensive core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic — and there’s a case to be made that Donovan is still an excellent head coach who maximizes the talent on the flawed rosters Karnisovas gives him.

The Bulls finally punted on trying to compete for the play-in tournament at the trade deadline by tearing down the roster. It feels like Chicago is going to be in for a long, long rebuild, and that doesn’t feel like the right fit for the 60-year-old Donovan. On Tuesday morning, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that there’s “growing speculation that Donovan might step away” from the Bulls after the season. On Tuesday night, North Carolina fired Hubert Davis as head coach, and Donovan’s name was immediately near the top of the list of potential replacements.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported that Donovan is “expected to be at or near the top of the list” for North Carolina. There’s also speculation that the Kansas Jayhawks job could open up in this cycle if Bill Self steps down to focus on his health. Donovan is still under contract with the Bulls for next season, but “there are a ton of people in (his) circle right now that have told him to get the hell out of there,” according to long-time college hoops insider Jeff Goodman.

Does Billy Donovan want to go back to college? His name was also surfaced for the Kentucky job two years ago before Mark Pope was hired, and he never interviewed or became a serious candidate. Donovan might have a few different options before him with the end of Chicago’s season coming on April 12.

Billy Donovan could take a year off

Donovan has had a tough year, and it has nothing to do with another lost season for the Bulls. Chicago Tribune writer Julia Poe chronicled Donovan dealing with multiple family tragedies this season while continuing to lead the wayward Bulls.

Donovan’s father died in February. His mother-in-law died weeks later. Shortly after that, Donovan’s mother had her leg amputated after circulation issues.

Donovan is already in the Hall of Fame for his back-to-back national championships at Florida. He has nothing to prove. Taking a year off to assess his future options and tend to his family would make plenty of sense.

Could the Bulls elevate Donovan to the front office?

Donovan has been tied to GM Arturas Karnisovas as the man who hired him. If Karnisovas keeps his job beyond this season, it’s only because the Reinsdorfs don’t actually care if their team is successful.

Any reasonable organization would fire Karnisovas for turning what should be a marquee franchise into a punchline. Of course, the Bulls were already a disaster in the ‘GarPax’ era with John Paxson and Gar Foreman in the front office, and somehow the Reinsdorfs hired someone even worse at the job.

One of Karnisovas’ best moves was hiring Donovan to succeed the ruinous Jim Boylen era. If the organization likes Donovan with him under contract, could it elevate him to the front office, fire Karnisovas, and let him hire another head coach? Hey, it worked for the Boston Celtics with Brad Stevens.

When asked about moving to the front office last season, Donovan said he wasn’t interested:

The Bulls need to clean house, but trying to make Donovan the new GM would make some sense. It’s also possible both Donovan and Karnisovas return to their current roles next year, but the Bulls would be primed for another bad season where they’re likely competing for a top pick in a weaker 2027 draft. It just feels like it makes no sense for Donovan to be the Bulls’ coach next season barring a huge infusion of talent that isn’t coming. Only a broken franchise would retain Karnisovas for another year, but we already know the Bulls are exactly that.

Could Donovan take another NBA job?

The Orlando Magic agreed to a contract with Donovan to become their head coach in 2007. He backed out of it days later, and continued his college coaching career at Florida.

The Magic feel like the best NBA job that could open this offseason. Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, and Jalen Suggs is a great young core if they can actually stay healthy, Desmond Bane has been a nice fit after a pricey offseason trade to land him, and Anthony Black is one of the rising rookie scale stars in the league. I wonder if Donovan would be more likely to take the Magic job and continue to enjoy the comforts of the NBA instead of stepping into a pressure cooker at North Carolina.

The Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Portland Trail Blazers could have other appealing head coach openings this offseason, though it’s too early to say that definitively for now.

The North Carolina job might be worth it

The Bulls don’t really try to win — they’re only willing to do it on Reinsdorf’s terms, which is why the team is always settling for mediocrity. Donovan is a fierce competitor by all accounts, and to me that means he should crave the opportunity to compete for championships and continue to build his legacy.

The best way to do it is by winning another national championship at North Carolina.

Donovan would need to have a strong front office to help him identify players he wanted to recruit both in the portal and out of high school. It would be a huge adjustment to jump into that world after being in the NBA for so long, so he would be right to demand the best staff possible. Donovan would also surely ask an annual NIL budget that rivals the country’s biggest spenders. Even good coaches can’t win without good talent, which Donovan has learned in Chicago.

College basketball has changed so much since Donovan left the sport. The NIL and transfer portal have rendered the landscape of college hoops completely unrecognizable from the one Donovan conquered with back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. It feels more stressful coaching college than in the NBA, and the pressure would be through the roof if he accepted the UNC job.

Maybe Donovan wants a more chill job in his 60s. If he really wants to go for glory, though, the North Carolina opportunity should have plenty of appeal.