At some point, everyone in the NBA is weighed, measured and found wanting.
That’s the reality of the league.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan knows exactly how it works.
This will be the third year of the four-year deal Donovan signed in 2020. He coached through a pandemic and a roster turnover in his first season, got the franchise back to the playoffs last season and has a whole new set of expectations tossed upon his shoulders this season, which tips off in a few weeks.
Those expectations were laid down this week by executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
“We’ve talked to Billy, and obviously last year we were not surprised we made the playoffs,’’ Karnisovas said. “A lot of people were surprised. Nor should we be surprised to make the playoffs this year, but we want to see improvement.
“We have to do better than last year . . . you can get by a round. Those are the expectations.’’
Fair or unfair, there are layers to Karnisovas’ statement.
First, does that mean it will be second round or bust for Donovan and his coaching future? Second, if the Bulls should fall short of those expectations, is Karnisovas the type of executive who falls on the sword and pins the blame on roster-building or does he go into survival mode and put the onus on Donovan?
Finally, and maybe more important, is the front office raising those expectations understanding the reality of the Eastern Conference and just saying the right things or has it fooled itself into thinking that this team is somehow better than it is perceived by most?
This season will tell a lot about Karnisovas & Co., and Donovan could be the scapegoat depending on which direction the Bulls go.
Welcome to the pressure of NBA coaching, a pool Donovan has been swimming in since 2015.
“I think I’m always in that pool regardless, whether it was my first year or last year: How do you continue to make the crew better?’’ Donovan said when asked if he was feeling more pressure than usual this season.
And while he’s on board with the expectation of getting past Round 1, he’s also dealing in reality.
“If you look at [last] season in its totality, we made a jump from the first year to the second year, but if you really start to put a magnifying glass up to it, after the All-Star break against some of the better teams, we were really, really dominated,’’ Donovan said. “How do we get better in those areas against those elite teams?’’
That’s what Donovan and his staff have to figure out.
And they’ll have to solve the problem with starting point guard Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery) sidelined at least six more weeks and almost the same cast of characters in a league that seemed to figure out how to slow down DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
Good luck.
Another side note: Donovan has never been fired from a coaching gig — college or NBA.
“I think we had the third-best record last year in close games, but when you go against the best teams, and there weren’t a lot of games, to be honest with you, that we were close against those teams, but the games that we were, we were 1-8,’’ Donovan said. “[Relying on DeRozan and LaVine], that’s only going to get us so far. We have to do other things to take another step, and that’s where I think our focus has to be.’’
