Bulls coach Billy Donovan steps away after six seasons at the helm

Don’t hand out minutes to rookies just because.

Don’t let others make decisions that you should make for yourself.

Don’t stand in the way of progress.

This is the code of honor that Billy Donovan operated by, and the latter was the primary reason he walked away from the Bulls’ head coaching chair after six seasons.

Exactly one week after meeting with owners Michael and Jerry Reinsdorf to have a heart-to-heart about the future of the organization, the team announced on Tuesday a sort of mutual parting of ways with Donovan as he turned down the final year of his option.

Not that it came as much of a shock since the April 14 summit with the Reinsdorfs, as Donovan left the meeting without giving an answer on whether he wanted to stay or go. That meant more time to weigh what he really wanted, and also a chance to really step back from the situation to focus on his priorities. It became apparent to the Hall of Famer that priority No. 1 was not being a hindrance to a new front office because he stayed on.

If the Bulls were looking to operate with a clean slate, in Donovan’s mind it should be a completely clean slate.

“After a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization, I have decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, to allow the search process to unfold,” Donovan said in a statement. “I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls, to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.”

Also playing a factor in the decision was that the Bulls still felt like a fixer-upper. Donovan stressed several times that he missed the idea of coaching meaningful NBA games in May and June rather than having exit meetings in April.

Those breadcrumbs were put down weeks ago.

“When I got into coaching I never did it for the money piece of it and I never really did it for notoriety,” Donovan said. “I love the game, I loved competing, and I felt like outside my parents.

“I never really thought, ‘Hey listen, I’m going to get into coaching because I want to be in the Hall of Fame.’ I wanted to get into coaching to win and the competing part, and trying to get a group of guys how to compete, so I never looked at it from a legacy standpoint as much as the season comes to an end, how are we going to work to get into a place where we’re really competing and how do we build this out moving forward?”

Donovan and the Reinsdorfs had that discussion – for hours. And while the Bulls are in a really good spot with cap space, two first-round picks, and two solid foundation pieces in Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, it is still a roster with a lot of holes and possibly being at least three years away from becoming serious, and that’s if everything is done right by the new front office.

At age 60, Donovan couldn’t afford to take that trust fall.

“Selfishly, competitively, I want us to be in that situation where we’re playing in real legitimate (games),” Donovan said. “You’re in the playoffs, you’re going through a seven-game series and you’re trying to advance and move on.”

Something Donovan and his recently fired front office of executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley couldn’t do, making the postseason just once and winning just one playoff game.

Karnisovas and Eversley lost their jobs in the wake of that failure earlier this month, but Michael Reinsdorf was still all in on Donovan, despite the 226-256 (.469 winning percentage) record. Enough so that he made it clear that the new front office would have to be good with inheriting the coach.

While Donovan appreciated the sentiment and relationship, he’s also learned in his Hall of Fame career that it’s better to feel like a sail rather than an anchor.

“We wanted Billy to continue as our head coach - that was never in question,” Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “But through honest conversations, we all agreed that giving our new head of basketball operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise. That is the kind of person Billy is - he put the Bulls first. We are deeply grateful for everything he has given to this organization.”

So what’s next for both parties?

First, Donovan is not done coaching. He made that very clear. The Sun-Times reported that the one organization that concerned the Bulls last month when rumbles of Donovan leaving first started was Orlando.

Jamahl Mosley has been on the hot seat most of the year and even a playoff run might not save his job. That would keep Donovan close to home and allow him to right a wrong from 15 years ago when he took the magic job and backed out a day later.

Otherwise, Donovan could take a year off to weigh the landscape.

As for the Bulls, until they can identify the new front office – a process that has just started in the interview phase – there is no list of coaching candidates. That will come into play once the empty offices upstairs in the Advocate Center are filled.

An interesting name that should be considered is former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who took the team to their last Eastern Conference Finals appearance and also led the Knicks there last season.

However, this again will be one of the many decisions on the new front office’s plate.