Billy Donovan is in his first month as Chicago Bulls coach, so right now, everything is still a great unknown.
It’s likely to stay that way for the next few weeks, too. At the very least, Donovan said it will remain that way for Friday’s preseason opener against the Houston Rockets.
“I’m still looking at the combination of players,’’ Donovan told reporters. “I wouldn’t even read into too much about who even starts against Houston on Friday. I think we still have to figure some of those things out. We do have four preseason games and we’ll probably look at some different combinations.”
Donovan is tasked with trying to work at least some minor basketball miracles with a Bulls team that is just sort of … there. No one really knows what to expect, no one is yet sure what the plan is under executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.
But this isn’t unfamiliar territory for Donovan. No one expected the Oklahoma City Thunder to be any good last season, either. Yet they became the NBA’s most inspirational story as a team that wasn’t supposed to stink, but didn’t.
Instead, Donovan, Chris Paul and the Thunder made an unlikely run to the Western Conference playoffs. Their season of dreams ended with a Game 7 loss, by two points, to the Houston Rockets in the first round.
That said, this is a entirely new situation with a whole new cast of characters. The list includes the likes of guards Zach LaVine and Coby White, and big men Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.
Donovan indicated nothing will be set until the Dec. 23 season-opener, if even then.
“We may have different starting lineups for those four (preseason) games. We’ll have to see,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is just trying to install offense and defense and the opportunity to play and compete.’’
