Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has slowly been assembling his coaching staff this offseason. He started by cleaning house and letting go of 4 of 5 assistant coaches leftover from the Boylen era. That left Billy Donovan with just assistant coach Chris Fleming. Donovan added Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach John Bryant four days ago and today he has added another coach.
The Bulls are hiring Bucks assistant Josh Longstaff for Billy Donovan’s coaching staff, sources tell ESPN. For Longstaff, it is an opportunity to elevate to a front-of-the-bench assistant.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2020
Donovan has added Bucks assistant coach Josh Longstaff. Longstaff has held assistant coaching roles with Oklahoma City, New York, and Milwaukee over the last 10 years. In that time frame, he also served as the head coach of the Erie BayHawks. He brought the BayHawks to the finals in his only season as head coach. Longstaff is known for doing well in player development and fundamentals. With a team as young as the Bulls, this will be key to evaluating each player on the roster. By all accounts, this appears to be a good move by Billy Donovan.
Donovan is building his perfect coaching staff
At this stage, it’s clear that the owners/operators of the Bulls, the Reinsdorf’s have financially agreed to let Donovan build the staff that he wants. They had to pay dead money to some of the assistant coaches that were fired. This isn’t something that you typically see the Reinsdorf’s do. This is important for the development of this team. The Bulls are young and the previous head coach didn’t do a whole lot to help with evaluating the team.
Donovan’s current assistant coaching staff includes player-favorite Chris Fleming. He has made a strong bond with the team and his talents have been noticed outside of the team. Earlier this Summer Fleming interviewed with the Knicks for their head coaching vacancy. Outside of Fleming, the staff includes John Bryant who was a player development coach with the 76ers. Again this is another key area for this young Chicago Bulls squad. In order to truly evaluate them, the Bulls need to develop them. Bryant will be a key addition to doing so. Billy Donovan is most likely still figuring out who his next additions will be but so far it looks good. This team is putting the focus on player development and fundamentals.
The Milwaukee relationship
After making this move it has gotten some people to believe that this move is part of an even bigger plan.
This year Longstaff, next year Giannis https://t.co/AVqmVqLPI8
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) November 2, 2020
2X MVP and Bucks Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the biggest free agent after this season. Every team in the NBA is going to be fighting to acquire Giannis. This could be the Bull’s way of making a pitch for him even more appealing. Giannis would look great in a Bulls jersey. We know this is a huge stretch but it’s enjoyable to fantasize.
Time will tell who Donovan adds to the rest of his coaching staff. However, the blueprint for this team is clear. Develop young talent and teach them the fundamentals of the game. Adding coaches to the staff who focus on that is exactly what Donovan is aiming to do. So far his first two hires have been great. Hopefully, the next hires will follow that same trend.
