The Bulls are “at a critical turning point” as coach Billy Donovan on Tuesday stepped down, which follows the April 6 firings of EVP/Basketball Operations Artūras Karnisovas and GM Marc Eversley, according to Julia Poe of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Donovan signed a multiyear contract extension last July, and Bulls President & CEO Michael Reinsdorf “emphasized the team’s desire to retain” him after Karnisovas and Eversley were fired. Ownership saw Donovan as a “crucial building block to its vision for the team.” But as Donovan leaves after six seasons, Reinsdorf will work with senior adviser John Paxson and Assistant GMs JJ Polk and Pat Connelly to “seek a new top executive and a new coach — a massive undertaking for a team in flux after missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.” Bulls Chair Jerry Reinsdorf in a statement said, “We wanted Billy to continue as our head coach — that was never in question. But through honest conversations, we all agreed that giving our new head of basketball operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise.” Poe notes this “isn’t the end of coaching for Donovan,” who “figures to be a top candidate for openings around the NBA” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/21).

CLEAN SLATE: In Chicago, Joe Cowley writes if the Bulls were “looking to operate with a clean slate, in Donovan’s mind it should be a completely clean slate.” Also playing a “factor in the decision was that the Bulls still felt like a fixer-upper.” Donovan stressed several times that he “missed the idea of coaching meaningful NBA games in May and June rather than having exit meetings in April.” Cowley notes while the Bulls are “in a really good spot with cap space, two first-round picks, and two solid foundation pieces in Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, it is still a roster with a lot of holes and possibly being at least three years away from becoming serious, and that’s if everything is done right by the new front office” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/21).

GET IT RIGHT: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes the Bulls will “need another version of Billy Donovan, perhaps a younger and cheaper model.” The Reinsdorfs “desperately need to get this right.” The hiring of Donovan “sent a message that the status quo was no longer acceptable, and for a while, it wasn’t.” But now the Bulls are “back to being a franchise living off its 1990’s aura” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/21). Also in Chicago, Steve Greenberg writes the Bulls have “been so baffling, blundering and bizarre and, worse still, so numbingly far from anything resembling relevance.” The Bulls have not won a playoff series since 2015, have not been to the Eastern Conference finals since 2011 and have not played for a championship since 1998. Overriding factors include “ownership that isn’t committed enough to winning or principled enough about the right things” and “front offices with absurdly long leashes.” In the end, Donovan was “powerless against it” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/21).