00:00A big story, relatively big story out of Chicago with Billy Donovan sticking around. It's going to be a multi-year extension for a guy that has been at the helm, kind of disappointing, honestly, tenure with Chicago to date, obviously.
00:12He's been there for five years already and, you know, had a brief overture in the offseason from the Knicks as well.
00:19But 195 and 205 in Chicago, two straight 39 and 43 seasons, a third straight loss in the play-in tournament, just the one trip, obviously, to the postseason.
00:31I'm not giving good numbers here, so I think it's a good way to take us in, Carlin, to, was this the right move for Chicago?
00:38Let me start with saying, by the way, anytime we get some NBA news this time of the year, it's good for you and I who are hoop heads.
00:44We're just dying for anything.
00:45That's right.
00:45It's Billy Donovan's story is that.
00:47So, you have a coach in, you know, where the numbers that you've read off aren't good, but they're also not terrible.
00:54Like, it could be a lot worse if you look at situations around the league and you compare them to what Chicago has in a roster that was pretty imbalanced prior to them selling off Zach Levine and selling off DeMar DeRozan.
01:06The Vucevic deal didn't quite pan out the way they wanted to outside of the one year where he had things rolling in his second season.
01:13When they got together, that quote-unquote big three for Chicago, they got together, they were rolling, and then Lonzo Ball gets hurt, and everything falls off the cliff.
01:22And, you know, I don't know if that's Billy Donovan's fault, right?
01:24Like, I think he got the best of what he can out of this roster.
01:28A lot of injuries, a lot of mismatches between players, a declining superstar in DeMar DeRozan, a declining superstar in Zach Levine.
01:35And to get to the playing tournament with a chance to try and go through to the playoffs, credit Billy Donovan for what he's done.
01:42Now, would I give him the extension?
01:44Probably not.
01:44I would have let him play it out and see what we had at the end of the year and said, all right, let's see how you do when your job's on the line.
01:50But maybe Chicago is kind of going the other way and saying, hey, this is a business with a lot of volatility.
01:56We have a coach that we think we believe in.
01:58We just got to find him a roster that he can actually work with and maybe see what he's going to be able to do.
02:03This is a rebuilding process in Chicago, so that timeline is going to be a little longer to figure out exactly what Billy Donovan could do with a good team.
02:12Just be patient if you're a Chicago Bulls fan, and I know you've been tired of hearing that.
02:15You haven't heard – you've been hearing that since Derrick Rose went down with a knee injury, right?
02:19Be patient.
02:19I'm saying it again.
02:21Be patient.
02:22I think Billy Donovan is a good coach who, by the way, is going into Hall of Fame in a couple of months.
02:26So just be patient.
02:27You have a good coach.
02:28Now you just got to get a good roster.
02:29Blame the front office, not Billy Donovan, by the way.
