Paxson story appears to be false alarm
I'm going to go ahead and climb out on the limb today and say the “John Paxson is about to resign as Bulls general manager” bombshell was a colossal false alarm.
If you happened to miss it, Peter Vecsey wrote today in the New York Post, “Do I know this to be fact? No. But two people in the know maintain John Paxson will resign as Bulls GM soon after Thursday's trade deadline expires. ... One of the above sources said he wouldn't be surprised if Doug Collins were approached again after the season regarding the coaching job (currently held by Vinny Del Negro) and as GM, or both.”
Reading that second sentence, I'm having flashbacks to the last time everyone jumped the gun on a Bulls story. Remember last May, when people were reporting that Doug Collins was all set to be head coach? It was a done deal everywhere but inside the Berto Center, where they were scheduling second interviews with Chuck Person, Dwane Casey and Vinny Del Negro.
Did Collins have anything to do with today's news item? I have no idea, but have been assured that the premise is not true.
Here's what might have happened: The Bulls have been planning to make some changes their front office, maybe add a person or two. Minor tweaks, not a huge deal. When word spread that the Bulls were going to hire new management, perhaps the story grew into Paxson is preparing to step down.
Paxson is in Phoenix for all-star weekend. I suppose Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf returned to his Arizona home after Tuesday's Johnny “Red” Kerr tribute. They haven't been listening to sports radio in Chicago and probably see no need to make any kind of definitive statement.
On Wednesday, Paxson and Reinsdorf spent the day together at the Berto Center, visiting with players and mulling over trade possibilities. Again, I've seen no evidence of Paxson being ready to resign. The job has been tough on him, but he's a competitor and has a potential superstar in Derrick Rose, a nice start toward building a winner.
I've seen other stories saying that Paxson is planning to resign, but the timing is uncertain. Here's another scoop: The Daily Herald has learned that we're all going to die some day, but the timing is uncertain.
Everyone in this business has been wrong before, including myself and Vecsey. I do know we were the first newspaper to report that Collins was talking to the Bulls about the coaching job last year, but never said it was a done deal.
If I find out anything different than what is written here, this post will be updated.
UPDATE -- Just to clarify a few things, I'm told Paxson does not have health problems that are causing him to consider stepping down, as one report suggested.
The Vecsey story suggested Gar Forman, the Bulls director of player personnel, would take over for Paxson. Forman's duties have been increasing during the past few months. As was widely reported, he took the lead in contract negotiations with the agents for Luol Deng and Ben Gordon over the summer. He's probably involved in trade talks as well. That doesn't mean he's taking over for Paxson, though.
As mentioned above, I've heard the Bulls have thought about bringing in more help for Paxson. Again, that doesn't mean he's quitting as general manager.
Also, I should point out that Paxson and Doug Collins are good friends. I don't want to imply that Collins is trying to sabotage Pax's position with the Bulls.
Scott..You make many good points. Drafting is never perfect, even the great GM's have picked bust's. My only beef is Pax not making some other moves last summer, and his pick of Noah. Unfortunately as great as I think Rose can be, having him fall into the Bulls laps last year, MIGHT have kept Pax from doing more last summer. He is not a loser or an idiot, I am sure JR ruined the coaching search last summer, forcing Pax to settle for VDN on the cheap. JR didnt want to pay Skiles and another guy top dollar at the same time.
pax needs to be let go or step down. he got us in this mess- he fell in love with his guys, who have very little passion and desire to get better and he overpayed them (hinrich, deng, noce and almost gordon).
he made a horrible FA signing in wallace, which i called since day 1. they/pax screwed up the coaching situation, aswell, and now we have cha-chi learning on the job as a rookie coach. this team is a mess. the only saving grace was lucking into rose. everyone else is more than expendable.
If you read my other post, it pretty much sums up how I feel about Paxson. Seriously though, the NBA isn't like any of the other major sports. You need a superstar, or more likely superstars (2 or 3), to be a consistent force in this league. Yes, I know that the Pistons aren't a team of superstars, but they have All-Stars up and down their roster. What should Paxson have done different? You can say the Tyrus Thomas trade (giving up LaMarcus Aldridge) was terrible, but what has Aldridge done that's so impressive? And, on top of that, Thomas is starting to look like at least a good bargaining chip. As I just wrote, all the other teams in the East that have risen to power in the East since Pax took over were able to do it with players that Paxson was unable to get. Yes, the Celtics got Garnett, but they had Pierce and also had to add another all-star in Allen to win. Would Pau Gasol down low with Ben Gordon and Kirk Heinrich at guard make us as good as he made the Lakers? NO! They have Kobe! With Garnett, we very well could have been the Timberwolves and with Gasol we probably would have been the Grizzlies!
You get lucky by getting a high draft pick in a year when there are legit superstars in the draft, like Cleveland, Toronto (Bosh), Miami (Wade), and Orlando have done. Paxson knows it, so unless he feels he has that superstar in hand, he just adds solid players he can use as trade bait. Hell, he got the Bulls to the 3 seed in the East with a bunch of role players and non-allstars!
The Celtics were terrible, Ainge had one foot out the door in Boston, and swung for the fences by keeping his one all-star and trading everyone else away to put pieces with him. Paxson never even had ONE all-star, and didn't have a high enough draft pick in the loaded drafts to get one, UNTIL NOW! Now, we can see what he can do. If he screws this one up, knowing Paxson, Jerry won't have to fire him he'll quit.
Well he could have traded up and drafted D Wade but balked at including Donyell Marshal. Do you really want to go down this road cause their is loads of trades he has passed on cause he fell in love with HIS players and overvalued them consistently and still does based on the fact that no trades have been made to date. The main problem with Pax isn't what he has done albeit he has made loads of mistakes there but that would all be overlooked if he capitalized on the early success by actually doing what he said he would and packaging his young talent for a star player or two.
You ask what could we have done. I see it as three years of inactivity that has got us here. You cannot tell me know one has been availible over the past three years that we could have gotten! Paxson keeps saying he is trying to make a trade but I say that is crap. He has been here for Six years and it is tough to point to any of his trades and say that was a good trade. None. PATHETIC.
Stop apologizing for Stand Pax.
I believe the title says it all. You are basing this on INTERNET CRAP! None of that has any validity to it. Yeah, I am sure that Pat Riley got totally lucky on the Dwayne Wade pick. He would have taken Donyell Marshall and (I am just going to put Kirk Heinrich here for discussion purposes) Kirk for Dwayne Wade. Do you just make this up?
Like I say in my other post, he inherited a team with 2 CURRENT NBA STARTERS (neither of which are all-stars) and got them beating the defending NBA Champs and pushing the perennially good Pistons in the semi-finals to 6 games only a few seasons later,
KEEP MAKING UP SOME MORE TRADE SCENARIOS IN YOUR HEAD, then tell the rest of us, and then I can get mad at Paxson too.
What are you talking about? The wade trade I mentioned was confirmed by sports writers. It's not like I am blaming Paxson for not getting Kobe or Garnett who where never really available... You are a fool if you think no quality nba players have been available during the past three seasons while Paxson has been sitting on his ass! He has an unbalanced team with too many combo guards and undersized big man that are offensively challenged. How do you fix this? Move a player or two and acquire a quality guy at a position of need. Paxson continues to FAIL at doing this year after year.
Yeah they beat the heat which rapidly aged. The season after the bulls beat them in the playoffs the same team got pummeled by every team in the league!
You can sit there and pretend Paxson is some great GM but you have to face the facts at some point and when you do the bad facts by far out weight the few good.
Where did you ever read a report that said the Bulls could have traded up in the 2003 draft by trading Donyell Marshall?
I don't ever remember hearing that report.
But let's say it was true - do you really think John Paxson refused to give up Marshall because he fell in love with him? When did he fall in love with him? He became GM two months before that draft ... Marshall was signed by Jerry Krausse
... and Paxson traded the guy less than a month into the season!
It hasn't been years of inactivity - just one year of bad activity.
2006.
The Bulls draft Tyrus Thomas (who is looking decent these days) over Brandon Roy --- it was a pretty universal agreement that the Bulls needed a low-post scorer ... but Thomas wasn't much of a scorer in college ... so if they weren't pleased with Aldridge's potential then they should have addressed their other need, a big guard they could pair with Hinrich (allowing Gordon to come off the bench)... they should have gone with Brandon Roy.
Signing Ben Wallace. This wasn't actually a bad move at the time. It just became a bad move. There was no one in Chicago who could really compliment Wallace's defensive ability. He's a weak-side defender, and the Bulls don't have any guys who push their men to the weakside. He became useless with the Bulls...
Trading Tyson Chandler. This had a waterfall effect, resulting in three bad moves when it was all said and done. Chandler, though reverting back to his previously sluggish ways, was a guy who could have complimented Wallace on the low post. He could have been pushing the offense to the weak side, and made Wallace more effective.
---Not trading PJ Brown and his $7.5 million expiring contract. In an era where Theo Ratliff is the biggest bargaining chip to land KG and the Lakers can trade the 76ers bench coach to obtain Paul Gasol ... you're telling me the Bulls couldn't find a way to turn PJ Brown into something useful? Big mistake.
...Trading JR Smith for nothing. Like I said, the Bulls had a big need at guard in these years. They were starting Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon ... with Chris Duhon coming off the bench. None of those guys are taller than 6'1" (Hinrich is listed at 6'3" but look at him stand next to D'Wayne Wade --- listed at 6'4" --- and Wade towers over him) ... The Bulls drafted Sefolosha that year, but how often does the 16th pick of the draft become a huge contributor in his rookie year? They should have kept Smith, a 6'6" scoring machine who could've given the Bulls a big guard they desperately needed.
It was no secret during the draft that the bulls liked Wade and tried to trade up for him. Afterword it came out that the Heat wanted Marshal and the number 7 pick for the number 5. Obviously as you know it didn't happen.
I do agree with you on a lot of these points. I don't think that everything that Paxson has done was great, I just think that his performance should be considered average at worst.
I agree with the whole Chandler scenario, which basically netted the Bulls only a second round draft pick when it was all said and done. JR Smith is someone who makes me cringe when I look at a Denver box score and see him put up another 25 points and 7 rebounds. But, he's also a prick head case, so Pax wanted to keep him away from Scott Skiles.
I believe that was a huge part of his mistakes...which goes along with the report that they begged Skiles to stay last year when he wanted to quit 2 weeks into the season. THEY BASED TOO MUCH around Scott Skiles and his preferences. This didn't allow them to have a few players.
Also, I like how in your other post you allude to Jerry Reinsdorf being a part of the problem and no one else wants to talk about it.
Here is an example: The bulls draft LaMarcus Aldridge and trade him to the Portand Trailblazers for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Kryapa (I don't want to waste time looking up the spelling) By having to pay the man they wanted anyway (Thomas) what the 4th pick gets paid versus what the 2nd pick gets paid, they save about $1 million a year. That isn't an NBA superstar salary, but it can put a decent chunk out of the salary of the Aaron Gray's of the world.
Also, as I stated in another post, fleecing Isiah Thomas repeatedly over the years deserves a little credit. Getting to swap draft picks with them for a player whom they could have just signed outright anyway allowed us to get high draft picks while we were winning. Getting the Suns draft pick and getting Luol Deng was a nice move. I feel the positives outweigh the negatives.
Like I said last night, the teams in the East that are in the top tier since Pax took over, besides Detroit who were great already in 2003, Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Miami...They all built around a stud that they drafted. Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard, that James guy...oh yeah LeBron, and Dwayne Wade. No matter what Paxson did, he could not have gotten any of those young guys if he wanted to. I feel that with him starting with a really crappy team, he has done a pretty decent job.
Now, to totally contradict everything I said, Paxson better trade for Amare if he's available. If one of these teams in the East get him instead of us, I'll flip out.
"Paxson whiffs again! He can't even pull the trigger on quiting! Big surprise there...
This guy is such a loser. He hires losers and he signs loser players to huge money. All in all if Jerry Reinsdoof knew anything about basketball he would be fired. "
Paxson is not a loser. He has evidence of that. They reside on his fingers. You might have heard about it. Now, as an executive, he tried ONE rebuilding project and got a team who pushed the Pistons to 6 games in the semi-finals (hey, that sounds familiar too) and didn't make the jump to the next level. The teams that were/are ahead of the Bulls the last few years are the Celtics (who had a potential HOF player in Pierce that Ainge inherited) who swung for the fence last year and it worked! Everyone was calling for Danny Ainge's head and now he's a genius! Oh, and the Cavs Danny Ferry might as well be called Jerry Krause 2, since he inherited the JIM PAXSON drafted Lebron James (Ferry was announced as GM on June 27, 2003) and built a contender around him. What a genius! Who else in the East? Toronto? Orlando? Both drafted big men that they have built around who were drafted ahead of Paxson's draft slots. Miami won one by drafting a superstar (once again, in the best NBA Draft ever and one spot ahead of Paxson in his first draft) and trading everyone away for Shaq.
Get a clue! Now that we have a legit superstar by lucking out in the draft like Cleveland and Orlando, let's see what Pax can do. He got us to a 3 seed in the East with a bunch of overachievers, I have some confidence.
So Paxson is not a loser cause MJ, Scottie, Rodman and Phil won him three titles???
Oh that makes alot of sense. So that means John Paxson, Steve Kerr, MJ and Kevin Mchale are all winners and Great GM's cause they were winners as players??? Yeah umm NO...
I like how you just glazed over the fact that he gave away young talent in droves during his first three years as GM then Signed perhaps the worst Free Agent Signing in NBA history then proceeded to sign perhaps the two worst Coaches in recent NBA history(Boylan and VDN). Oh yeah none of that contributed to the downfall of the Bulls. He has been GM for 6 years lets look at the good stats. 1 playoff series win over a horrid Heat team. How can one argue with such emense success?
Yeah the bulls have talent but how I ask you do the Paxson brothers get number one picks like Lebron and Derrick Rose? Cause they suck and LOSE alot of games. Hence they are both LOSERS! Clevland knew when to cut the Paxson Cord and build around the young star. Wish Jerry Reinsdoof had the same fortitude.
I like Paxson the person and player but can't stand the ineptitude of Paxson the GM. I know the pieces are there to make deals that could really make this team alot better quickly but for the past 3 years Paxson has done nothing but see how low they can fall. We need a GM that has the ability to make a good trade and has a vision of where the team needs to be. Paxson has shown neither in his time here so yeah I would like him gone.
What young talent? Tell me? Are you mad at John Paxson because Jerry Krause traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler? Are you upset that Jerry Krause traded Ron Artest to Indiana?
I remember him getting the Knicks to swap draft picks with the Bulls for a...
SIGN AND TRADE!!! of Eddy Curry (who is lost on the Knicks bench)
They didn't have to give us anything, they could have just signed him outright, and they gave us the opportunity to stay at the top of the draft while we were at the top of the East
He took a basement dweller who had about 10 players on it WHO ARE NOW OUT OF THE LEAGUE and 3-years later they were pushing the Pistons to six in the semi-finals, a series after they had bounced the DEFENDING NBA CHAMPIONS! Don't believe me, take a look at...
2003 CHICAGO BULLS (John Paxson's first inherited team with his first draft picks)
Kirk Heinrich (PAX's first 1st round draft pick)
A retiring Scottie Pippen
A retiring Kendal Gil
Antonio Davis (I think he was two years from retirement)
Marcus Fizer, (again another terrible Krause draft pick)
Jalen Rose (man, he did win all those...oh wait)
Donyell Marshall
Eddy Curry (not even playing a minute a game!)
Eddie Robinson (remember how he flourished after he left the Bulls, who benched him)
Tyson Chandler (THE ONLY PERSON PAXSON HAS GOTTEN RID OF THAT IS EVEN DECENT!)
Jamal Crawford (who is so selfish and defensively terrible that even though he scores, no one wants him)
and...Rick Brunson, Paul Shirley, Lonny Baxter, Linton Johnson, Ronald Dupree, and a host of others
WHERE IS ALL THE YOUNG TALENT??? Of course you aren't going to say anything, you are going to harp on the fact that we gave away Tyson Chandler (who has never so much as sniffed an all-star game) and replaced him with Ben Wallace who was just coming off of a stretch of 4 out of 5 years as DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Get over it, there was nothing else he could have done in the past 2 years that would have won the Bulls a championship, so it wasn't like it killed us.
I am never going to get over this Paxson is a loser thing. I just can't agree with it! That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard! Let's first of all take Rodman out, because he was traded to the Bulls after Paxson had retired as a player. I hardly think someone who contributed DIRECTLY TO A CHAMPIONSHIP by not only being on the team while they got over the Detroit Piston hump (something that HE CAN bring some knowledge of to his players as a GM) but he HIT CLUTCH JUMPERS IN THE CLUTCH IN THE FINALS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE BULLS WINNING THE NBA FINALS, THUS PRODUCING A CHAMPIONSHIP! I'm sorry, anyone who calls him a loser is a COMPLETE IDIOT!
AND...
You are just like every other meatball in town who insists that any trade that is rumored somewhere on the internet is a done deal, and only Paxson is at fault for not pulling the trigger. You, and I for that matter, have absolutely no knowledge of what really is being shopped around the league, so until I see the perfect piece of the puzzle
Which young players did John Paxson give up in droves during his first three years? Are you talking about Eddie Robinson or Jalen Rose? Are you talking about Jamal Crawford or Eddy Curry? Maybe you're talking about Tyson Chandler.
...See I'm not sure who you're talking about because none of those players are any good. Robinson and Rose were mistake acquisitions left to Paxson by the previous regime. Crawford has never proven anything except that he can score when afford the chance to take 25 shots in a game. Curry can't even get on the court for the Knicks. And Chandler had one good year in New Orleans before reverting to a very average player again this season.
So please, tell me. Who did John Paxson give up?
Oh... maybe this is about who didn't give up...
You're right, he didn't give up Luol Deng, Tyson Chandler and the second pick of the draft to obtain Kevin Garnett --- though it was reported that he did offer that package to Minnesota in 2006.
Oh. He didn't give up Luol Deng, Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah to obtain Kobe Bryan last year - though that's what it would have taken to obtain Bryant --- if the Lakers were willing to give him up, which they WERE NOT-- leaving the Bulls with a great roster of Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and Kobe Bryant.
Oh. Almost forgot. He refused to give up Andres Nocioni for Pau Gasol ... or was it Luol Deng for Gasol ... or wait, that's right. The Grizzlies wanted nothing for Gasol, just for the Bulls to pay luxury taxes ... a trade idea nixed not by Paxson, but by Jerry Reinsdorf...
A few more things...
He didn't sign Jim Boylan to be head coach. He promoted Boylan to interim coach after firing Scott Skiles. And yes. There is a monsterous difference between the two.
Vinny Del Negro was his THIRD choice to coach the Bulls. After Jerry Reinsdorf nixed the signing of Mike D'Antoni AND Doug Collins, John Paxson finally turned to Vinny Del Negro.
Jerry Reinsdorf pushed the Deng contract situation to a conclusion --- Paxson wasn't budging from his original offer. Read the reports.
As for one playoff series win in six years... Let's see... He took over the worst franchise in the NBA ... a team filled with bust draft picks (Crawford, Curry, Chandler) bust free-agent signings (Eddie Robinson) and bust trade acquisitions (Jalen Rose) ... The only player on the team he inherited that was worth keeping was Jay Williams - and two months after Paxson became GM, Williams had a career-ending injury.
So given what he started with - I'd say it was a miracle he put together a team that reached the playoffs after just one year.
Everything you mention him doing good was over three years ago. I am not going to lie I thought he did a overall good job his first three seasons. I mean his trades made me cringe for sure but overall he was on the right track. Then the team changed when all the guys on it were his draftees or signees he failed at a pivotal point and contiues to fail to package his younger players for a star to improve the talent level like HE said he would.
Who did he give away? These are players he gave away and have been starters on teams he gave them to.
Gave away Chandler
Gave away Jamal Crawford
Gave away JR Smith
Gave away Curry
Gave away Tim Thomas
Oh yeah Crawford has been a huge bust averaging nearly 20 points and 5 assists his past three seasons... Hmm I do believe those are better stats than any bulls player has put up during that time. What was paxson able to get for him? Junk Yard Dog. What an expert trader! I am soo sorry for ever doubting Paxson and his ability!
You tell me if Paxson is so great What has he done? Other than one playoff series vitory in Six years. What has he done that is so great.
Paxson whiffs again! He can't even pull the trigger on quiting! Big surprise there...
This guy is such a loser. He hires losers and he signs loser players to huge money. All in all if Jerry Reinsdoof knew anything about basketball he would be fired.