For Donovan, job with the Bulls ‘came out of left field’

CHICAGO— TheChicago Bulls weren’t on Billy Donovan’s radar when he and the Oklahoma City Thunder parted ways after five successful seasons. Thingssurechangedinahurry. “Iwasn’tlookingatanything,”Donovansaid. “ItwasfivegreatyearsinOklahomaCity.Ithink it’s always emotional when you leave a place that you enjoyed working with the people you wereworkingwith. I wasaroundsometerrific peopleintheorganization,tremendousplayers. You’re just kind of decompressing. Sothis kind of cameoutofleftfieldforme.”

TheBullsintroducedDonovanastheircoach on Thursday, two days after they announced theylandedarguablythemostattractivecandidate onthemarkettohelpturnaroundastruggling teamwithnewmanagement.

Donovangoesfromworkingwithstarssuch as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Paul George and Chris Paul to trying to lift a franchise with one playoff appearance in five seasons.Hewas243-157withtheThunderand led themtotheplayoffseachseason.

DonovanwasafinalistforNBACoachofthe Year this season after Oklahoma City outperformedexpectations.HesplitwiththeThunder on Sept. 8 after he couldn’t get the assurances hewantedfromgeneralmanagerSamPresti.

On Thursday, he pushed back on the idea thathewasagainstcoachingarebuildingteam, pointing out he built a powerhouse at Florida before hemovedtotheNBA.

“That was really never, ever about it for me,” he said. “It was a lot more important for me, knowing that my time had ended there, what was going to be the environment, the situation going forward. I’ve never really ever talked about that at all. I do feel like Oklahoma City wasincredibly openandhonestwithme.”