The Spurs have hired Billy Donovan as their lead assistant coach under Mitch Johnson, adding a veteran NBA head coach to the staff at a moment when the team is reshaping its bench. Shams Charania reported the move for on Twitter.
Donovan brings 11 seasons of NBA head-coaching experience into the role. He has led the Thunder, then spent the past six seasons with the Bulls, and he arrives with a 469-413 career record that gives Johnson a proven hand beside him.
The timing helps explain why the move is drawing attention now. Donovan was already a known name in coaching circles after leaving the Bulls at the end of the 2025/26 season, and he had been viewed as a frontrunner for the Magic's head coach opening before that job ultimately went to Sean Sweeney, a former Spurs top assistant.
That path matters because Donovan is not coming in as a newcomer looking for his first foothold. He spent 19 years coaching the University of Florida before reaching the NBA, won SEC Coach of the Year three times there and collected two national titles, a résumé that long ago established him as a coach who can build and sustain winning programs.
For Johnson, the addition gives him a staff member who has already managed the demands of an NBA season and has done it in two separate stops. Donovan had been in the league since 2015, first with the Thunder from 2015 to 2020 and then with the Bulls from 2020 to 2026, which is the kind of experience that can steady a new coaching setup without changing its direction.
The unanswered piece is the simplest one: when Donovan will officially begin. The hire has been reported, the fit is clear and the Spurs have their veteran assistant, but the start date has not been set out publicly. For now, the move says as much about what Johnson wants around him as it does about where Donovan is choosing to go next.
