Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls have parted ways after six seasons. Donovan made the decision himself to leave, said the franchise, which doesn't come as a huge shock as the team turns to a full rebuild.
One of the most respected coaches in the league is now available to hire — and wants to continue coaching, according to ESPN. With Michael Malone signing on to coach North Carolina, Donovan might be the most appealing option on the open market, and seems like a great fit for a young, hard-nosed Blazers team. If only he would be willing to accept about 75% less money in Portland than he could get elsewhere.
Do we think Donovan loves food trucks and a mild climate and a rocky but exquisite coastline enough to take a massive pay cut? If I could personally talk to him, I might be able to convince him, but that, unfortunately, doesn't seem likely.
Blazers might not give themselves a chance to hire a capable coach
For the record, I've been clear that I believe Tiago Splitter should be given the permanent head coaching job. He took over on literally a moment's notice after Chauncey Billups was arrested by the FBI (still an absurd sentence) and led an incredibly injury-ridden team to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
But with Donovan joining the list of impressive coaches currently without positions (Thibodeau, Jenkins, Budenholzer), the front office is doing itself a disservice by not at least conducting a full search, and Tom Dundon's apparent obsession with saving money won't even get the team an interview with any coach who has real experience under their belt.
My gut tells me the plan is to bring Tiago Splitter back by lowballing him and telling him that he wouldn't find a head coaching job anywhere else (which is probably true). But this desire of Dundon to pay a coach so much less than other coaches are getting paid is, for starters, highly disrespectful to Splitter, who has blown all expectations out of the water, and it completely takes the Blazers out of the market for any other candidates, a pool which just got even deeper with Billy Donovan stepping down in Chicago.
It's hard to attract free agents to Portland. For some reason, Tom Dundon wants to make it hard to attract coaches, too. Are we having fun yet, folks?
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