The Chicago Bulls finished the 2024-2025 NBA season at 39-43. With head coach Billy Donovan leading the team in his fifth season with the team, he was set to see his current deal expire after the 20225-2026 NBA season.
But, ahead of the season, the Bulls decided on his contract. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Bulls and Donovan agreed to a new contract extension, which will keep the Bulls’ head coach in Chicago.
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. pic.twitter.com/LVYMiZt2Tv
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 27, 2025
“Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has signed a multiyear contract extension with the franchise, sources tell ESPN,” Charania writes. “Donovan is viewed as a leader within the Bulls organization, and will enter his sixth season in Chicago in 2025-2026 with 800 NBA games coached over his career.”
Donovan keeps his role on the Bulls, but they weren’t the only team interested in having him as their head coach. Charania also brought up how the New York Knicks were interested in landing Donovan to be their head coach.
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“The Bulls and Billy Donvan started negotiations at the end of last season and continued conversations through this week amid offseason planning,” Charania writes, “a brief pursuit of Donovan by the New York Knicks, and the draft, free agency and summer league.”
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. https://t.co/hXAF7IWhgq
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 27, 2025
It was a busy stretch for the Bulls and Donovan, but with things having cooled down, the two sides finally settled on his extension for the next few seasons.
During his five seasons in Chicago, Donovan has a .488 winning percentage, with his 2021-2022 season as the only year during his Bulls tenure with a winning record, at 46-36.
Before joining the Bulls, during his five seasons in Oklahoma City with the Thunder, Donovan had a .608 winning percentage. But, since joining the Bulls, he’s struggled to have winning seasons.
However, the organization still believes in his coaching ability, as evidenced by the team signing him to a multi-year deal to remain the head coach.
Donovan is staying in Chicago for the foreseeable future, as the team looks to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
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