Bulls Billy Donovan on Russell Westbrook: He was always ready to play
INDIANAPOLIS — Billy Donovan can’t talk about a potential reunion with Russell Westbrook.
Not yet.
League rules prevent the Bulls coach from publicly discussing his former Oklahoma City Thunder star for as long as Westbrook remains under contract with Utah. Donovan made that clear this week when asked specifically about Westbrook’s potential fit in Chicago. Flouting the rule would violate the NBA’s tampering laws and result in a steep and speedy fine.
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That hasn’t stopped questions.
After another embarrassing blown lead in a 117-113 loss at Indiana on Wednesday, the Bulls need help. DeMar DeRozan missed his fifth game of the season after an MRI on Tuesday revealed a Grade 1 thigh sprain. It’s unclear when he’ll return. The sixth-time All-Star joined Lonzo Ball, Javonte Green and Derrick Jones Jr. on the injured list with Alex Caruso and Goran Dragić as somewhat regular uncertainties.
Chicago has lost a season-high five straight games. The Bulls fell to 26-32, 1.5 games behind 10th-place Washington and only a game ahead of the Pacers.
This is not how the Bulls envisioned their season playing out. And with Westbrook and the Jazz potentially headed for a buyout, the Bulls could come back from this weekend’s All-Star break with a new weapon.
The addition of Westbrook received a resounding endorsement Wednesday from the team’s highest-paid player and one of the faces of the franchise.
I asked Zach LaVine about the Bulls potentially adding Russell Westbrook:
“Russ is a future Hall of Famer, man. I think you can only respect what he’s done in this league. If he so happens to come on the team, we welcome him with open arms.” pic.twitter.com/yLTSHN3uaV
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 16, 2023
“Russ is a future Hall of Famer, man,” Bulls two-time All-Star Zach LaVine said. “I think you can only respect what he’s done in this league. If he so happens to come on the team, we welcome him with open arms. If he’s not, you compete against him. He’s a fierce competitor. You can do nothing but respect that.”
Donovan coached Westbrook for four seasons with the Thunder. The two, along with Kevin Durant, led Oklahoma City to the Western Conference finals in 2016. Westbrook averaged a triple-double in the following three seasons under Donovan before being traded to Houston. Donovan would touch only on what he appreciates about Westbrook as a player from the standpoint of their time together.
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“I will just say that being with him for four years, I always said this: It was an unbelievable respect on my part from the standpoint of whenever there was a game, you knew he was always ready to play,” the coach said. “And he’s a great competitor. He loves competing. And he plays with great energy and great passion. When you go into a locker room before a game and you look at him, you’re not worried about whether or not he’s ready to play. Every game.”
It’s a trait the bumbling Bulls lack.
Wednesday marked the fifth contest this season they’ve lost despite leading by at least 16 points. After a strong first quarter in which they owned a 39-15 advantage despite being short-handed, the Bulls quickly wilted. Only 22 days earlier, against this same team in this same building, the Bulls blew a 21-point first-half lead.
Can one player inject energy into these exasperating Bulls?
“I don’t know if one player can provide it or not,” Donovan said. “I think that’s certainly a lot to ask of one player potentially coming into a new situation. I think for our team, we’ve got to be more consistent. I know I sound like a broken record in that area. But we do. There’s times we’ve been pretty good at it. There’s times we haven’t been pretty good.
“But with Arturas (Karnišovas) and Marc (Eversley) and the front office, they’re always going to try to look at different ways that they can help our team get better. And at whatever point they get ready or feel like they’re going to be close to wanting to make a decision, generally, they’ll sit down and talk with me and get my opinions and thoughts on it.”
Whether it’s Westbrook or another acquisition, Donovan said the Bulls must go through the integration process before truly learning whether the player is a fit.
“When you look at a guy as a fit when you look at him as a player, I think you also look at all the way around,” Donovan said. “How is he going to fit with the guys that are on the team? What are his skill sets he can bring to the table that can complement the skill sets that are already here? How long would it be an integration process? Would he be happy with his role? Is he fine if he’s starting? If he’s coming off the bench? If he’s closing games? If he’s not closing games?
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“You’ve got to get to a specific place with that where everybody’s on the same page of things like that being talked about before you would look to sign somebody or if somebody wanted to come here. There’s a bigger question other than, ‘This is this guy’s talent piece.’ You’ve got to look at how it fits together with the team, and can that person complement and help the group?”
But with their season slipping away, the Bulls are running out of time. The cost-benefit analysis must take a back seat. Urgency is required.
“There’ll be five or six days (over the break) before we can get back on the court as a group,” Donovan said. “Then you’re going into your last 23 games of the year. And we’re hovering around the possibility of being in the Play-In Tournament. So, yeah. What’s the urgency to try to inject or bring somebody in that could help?”
(Photo of Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook with Oklahoma City in 2017: Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)
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