Hoops4theSoul

May

21

Ranking John Paxson’s Hits & Misses: Part 2

Filed Under Analysis/Commentary, NBA, Chicago Bulls

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John Paxson for Three in 1993 Kobe Bryant with the Bulls Vinny Del NegroWhat’s forgotten with Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson is just how quickly he came in and cleaned up the stink left by Jerry Krause following the Michael Jordan dynasty.

In his second full season running the team Paxson had the Bulls back in the playoffs for the first time since 1997-1998.

After the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Bulls were considered legitimate Eastern Conference contenders and Paxson seemed like he could not do anything wrong beyond landing a superstar, scoring big man.

When everything went down the toilet in the 2007-2008 season, Paxson got some fair and unfair criticism.

According to his critics, Paxson was unable to make the big move and land the superstar. He valued his draft picks way too much. He seemed to have lost the fire. His players had finally become corrupted by the NBA.

Before making a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons and changing the makeup and attitude of the team this past February, Paxson had unfortunately gone from popular to unpopular in the eyes of some fans. He was even rumored to be leaving the organization.

Funny how opinions changed when the Bulls made the playoffs.

In all honesty, Paxson has done a strong job running the Bulls.

He helped restore the team back to respectability after Krause ran the franchise into the toilet.

He built the team back up by drafting proven collegiate winners with character.

He helped take the team to two games of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007.

And while there have been a lot of frustrating developments to take place in the last couple of seasons, Paxson has appeared to right the ship. The future looks bright with Derrick Rose.

All in all, Paxson deserved some of the criticism that he’s gotten over the years; with that said, he deserves much more recognition.

Yesterday I looked at some of Paxson’s best moves with the organization.

I’ve broken down some of his misses below.

Curious, Head-Scratching Moves

1. June 11, 2008 — Hired Vinny Del Negro as Head Coach.

The ‘07-08 season was a lost season as a promising young Bulls team seemed out of sorts and even a bit jaded by the business side of the game. Predicted by some to win the Eastern Conference prior to that season, the Bulls were a disaster from start to end. Head Coach Scott Skiles was fired, his replacement Jim Boylan received little respect from his players, Joakim Noah was suspended by his teammates for a game, and the team missed the playoffs far and wide.

Entering last summer, the Bulls were still a young team that could regain their promise under the right head coach. With Mike D’Antoni and his appealing offensive philosophies available, Paxson could not seal the deal, largely due to team owner Jerry Reinsdorf taking his precious time. D’Antoni ended up choosing a New York team with far less talent. Weeks later, the Bulls won the draft lottery, which led to the drafting of Derrick Rose. Could you have imagined what D’Antoni and Rose could have done together?

After D’Antoni didn’t happen, the Bulls made overtures to former Head Coach Doug Collins in a surprise move. But once again, Reinsdorf killed any chances of a deal, this time due to his close relationship with Collins.

Collins would have been a good move as he has the respect of today’s NBA players via his role as an accomplished broadcaster. While Collins would have burned out in a couple of seasons, he would have gotten this team back on the right track.

While these developments were not Paxson’s fault, they unfortunatley perpetuated the notion that Reinsdorf pulled all the strings. After a painfully long coaching search, Paxson stunned Chicago fans and the basketball world when he hired former pro player Vinny Del Negro, a director of player personnel with the Phoenix Suns who had never coached a game in his life.

While Paxson described the hiring “as out of the box,” it was a bit insulting and disappointing to Bulls fans who were expecting more. It reeked of the Bulls being cheap, especially with Skiles still on the books.

Even though Del Negro’s Bulls surprised and advanced to the playoffs, producing a classic, seven-game series against the defending champion Celtics, his rookie season was an adventure in coaching. Del Negro worked through tons of mistakes with his rotations and timeouts, and even had Rose on the bench late in a close home loss to Miami. While Del Negro worked hard and improved throughout the season, he hardly eased concerns that he should have been hired.

At the end of the day, ask yourself this question. Was the Bulls’ late season success a byproduct of Del Negro, did it happen in spite of him or was it something that just happened? I would lean to the last option with Del Negro contributing to some things but mostly the players making things happen.

As a coach, Del Negro emphasizes a cheaper, poor man’s version of D’Antoni ball. The Bulls really took steps back defensively this year under him. While Del Negro should be commended for keeping the team loose and continuing to work hard, his inexperience was apparent in Chicago’s Game Seven loss.

In short, it will get to a point where the Bulls can not afford to have a young coach making mistakes on the sidelines as Rose continues to progress. If the Bulls rise with Rose, the team will need to have an experienced head coach who can make a difference when it comes to strategy and in-game coaching. That has not been a strong point of Del Negro, at least yet.

While it’s been nearly a year since Del Negro was hired, I’m still shocked by this move.

2. July 31, 2008 — Re-signed Luol Deng. Paxson has always been a believer of not letting his draft picks leave the organization for nothing. With that said, hammering out new deals for Deng and Ben Gordon, both draft picks in 2004, have proved difficult and extremely frustrating. Extensions could not be reached with both players prior to the ‘07-08 season, and both played as if their contract issues were bothering them (Deng way more so than Gordon) during that terribly disappointing season.

Entering the summer of 2008, Paxson went back to the table with these two young players. Things didn’t look good again, with Deng even issuing an ultimatum that he wouldn’t negotiatie with the Bulls as an unrestricted free agent this summer if a deal wasn’t worked out and Gordon saying that he had played his last game as a Bull.

Curiously, the Bulls seemed to cave in to Deng’s ultimatum and signed him to a 6-year, $70 million extension. A similar deal could not be worked out with Gordon, who ended up signing a one-year deal as a restricted free agent prior to last season. Gordon’s contentious negotiations make it look very doubtful that he will return to the team next season.

I was against the Bulls signing Deng before Gordon last summer for a number of reasons, primarily being that Deng was too soft for my liking and that Gordon, for his shortcomings, was a clutch shooter afraid of no moment. If things couldn’t be worked out with both players long term, I felt that the team was better off signing both guys to one-year deals as restricted free agents after difficult performancs in ‘07-08 and letting things play out on the court this past season.

Chicago has to wish it could be in this position this summer after Deng had another bad year and Gordon had a very good year. If the Bulls would choose all over again, you’d have to bet the team would rather keep Gordon at the expense of Deng rather than Deng at the expense of Gordon.

Now the Bulls have a lot of money invested in a guy in Deng who has been very soft the last two seasons and injured for parts of three of his five seasons in the league. While Gordon has his faults as a player, he has been a durable and proven scorer for five seasons.

I don’t understand the Bulls’ fascination with Deng. Nor do I get how Deng seems to be let off the hook for a lot of thing while Gordon is the easy target to blame. While Gordon has turned down good deals, it’s troublesome why he’s gotten a bad rap for being selfish with the Bulls and Deng didn’t get called out for basically issuing an ultimatum.

The Bulls have always seemed to be hard team to negotiate with under Reinsdorf’s leadership. Thus, it was surprising to see the organization panic when Deng issued his ultimatum. Deng held a gun up to the organization, and Paxson and the Bulls seemed to falter.

Whether that’s true or not, it’s a just perception. Deng’s play and injuries this season make his contract even more dumbfounding.

Good Moves at the Time That Just Didn’t Work Out

1. July 13, 2006 — Signed Ben Wallace to a 4-year, $60 Million Contract.

Give Paxson credit for taking a huge shot in free agency and signing the best available player and big man in the 2006 free agent class. While overpaying big time, Paxson seemed to have found the perfect fit for his gritty Bulls teams in the classic overachiever Wallace, who along with Chauncey Billups was the heart and soul of the Detroit Pistons championship in 2004.

With that said, Wallace was a colossal disappointment. While the Bulls advanced to the second round in his first season, Wallace wasn’t the leader the team expected. He clashed with Head Coach Scott Skiles over wearing a headband, and their personalities did not mesh.

During his second season, Wallace was a ghost on the court and a detriment off of it. Skiles was eventually fired but Wallace, whose skills were diminishing big time, and his teammates didn’t wake up. That second season seemed to be a joke to Wallace, who did not relish the responsibility and limelight that came with being a $15 million player.

Wallace seemed to be a corrupting influence on a lot of Chicago’s younger players as well. He even led a curious player-invoked suspension of Joakim Noah, who yelled at Assistant Coach Ron Adams in a pregame shoot around in Philadelphia.

Recognizing that Wallace needed to be moved for many reasons, Paxson swallowed his pride and shipped “Big Bum” (as he came to be known in Chicago) to Cleveland. Still, signing Wallace was the right move at the time. No one could have expected the self-made Wallace to go through the motions on the court and be a divisive influence in the locker room.

2. June 28, 2006: Drafted LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas with the second pick in the 2006 NBA draft and traded his rights, along with a future second round draft pick, to Portland for the rights to the fourth overall pick, Tyrus Thomas of LSU, and Viktor Krhyapa.

This was another move by Paxson that made perfect sense at the time. Chicago badly needed some athleticism on the front line, and Thomas was the best athlete in the draft. Thomas and Aldridge actually battled during the 2006 Elite Eight, and it was Thomas’ athleticism that stole the show.

Looking back at drafts is pure revisionist history, and no one would have projected that Aldridge would be the low-post scorer that the Bulls actually needed. Still, could you imagine how dangerous the Bulls would be with Aldridge’s face-up game and back-to-the-basket scoring capabilities? It’s safe to say that the team wouldn’t be eyeing players like Chris Bosh in the 2010 free agent class.

Thomas has been a model of inconsistency with the Bulls. While he has shown flashes of greatness and developed into a starter, he doesn’t seem to have the innate understanding of or passion for the game that is needed to be a dominator. Because of his youth and out-of-this-world athleticism, Thomas still is an appealing trade chip if the Bulls choose to go this route.

Also in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Blazers traded for the rights to Brandon Roy, who was the sixth overall pick by Minnesota. Roy looks like a true franchise player three seasons later.

While the Bulls would love to have him now, he would have been considered a reach at number two in the draft at the time. And the Bulls seemed set with back-court players like Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, and needed to infuse athleticism down low, which Thomas certainly has brought to the team.

Frustrating Moves That Didn’t Look Good in the Public Eye

1. October 4, 2005: Traded Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis to the New York Knicks for Mike Sweetney, Tim Thomas, Jermaine Jackson, a conditional first round draft pick and two second round draft picks.

Trading Eddy Curry to the Knicks actually proved to be a boon to the Bulls in that they got two high first round picks who turned out to be Aldridge and Noah. Still, the Curry trade was a complicated one that painted the Bulls as being insensitive and boorish, a viewpoint that infuriated Paxson.

Near the end of the 2004-2005 season, Curry was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat that forced him out of the playoffs. Like what the organization would face with Deng and Gordon, Chicago was looking to re-sign restricted free agent big men Curry and Tyson Chandler in the summer of 2005. Often out of shape in his time with the Bulls, Curry seemed like he was finally putting it together as a low-post scorer and a more energetic professional before being diagnosed with the heart condition, which complicated his negotiations big time.

The Bulls wanted Curry to undergo DNA testing to learn more about his condition and determine if it could prompt a life-threatening heart illness that had killed former NBA player Reggie Lewis. If Curry failed the test, the Bulls would offer a contract that would pay him $400,000 over the next 50 years. Naturally, Curry and his agent scoffed at such figures, and the differences and hurt feelings on both sides became irreconcilable.

In moving Curry, the Bulls took a step back in the 2005-2006 season, falling to the seventh seed in the playoffs. Curry would go to the Knicks, where his weight issues and indifference have rendered him an unproductive and disappointing player.

Whether Curry would have developed into the consistent low-post scorer that the Bulls have craved since his departure is unknown. Still, it’s unfortunate how things ended for both sides. Curry has never lived up to his potential in New York, and the contract fallout further perpetuated a negative image of the Bulls organization under Reinsdorf when it comes to negotiating with players.

Whether that image is fair or not, it does seem that negotiating with the Bulls is like pulling teeth, as the prolonged Gordon and Deng situations have further illustrated.

2. December 24, 2007: Relieved Scott Skiles in his duties as head coach.

While Skiles allegedly went into Paxson’s office shortly after the Bulls were blown out at home by the Houston Rockets and said that he was no longer the right man for the job, it was disappointing to see the Bulls get rid of Skiles on Christmas Eve of 2007. Expected to contend for the Eastern Conference in ‘07-08, the Bulls were awful all year long and did not make the playoffs.

Firing Skiles may have had to happen, but it didn’t have the intended effect on Chicago players, who transformed, at least for one season, from unselfish to selfish players. While Paxson did a good job of bringing discipline to the dysfunctional Bulls when he took over for Krause in 2003, he wasn’t as effective in ‘07-08. Interim Head Coach Jim Boyland didn’t get much respect from his players and even took flak from then-rookie Aaron Gray of all people. It seemed as if the inmates were running the asylum that season (especially malcontent Ben Wallace), and the Skiles firing did little to change the bad attitudes on the team.

While his personality could be tough on players, Skiles deserved a better fate in Chicago. While Paxson put his players on notice after firing Skiles, they didn’t seem too concerned or affected. Such is the NBA at times.

HO-HUM Moves That Merited More Evaluation 

1. February 19, 2009: Traded Thabo Sefolosha to Oklahoma City for a 2009 first-round pick.

I actually liked Sefolosha as a defensive player and felt like he never had the chance to develop in Chicago. He went from the opening night starter at shooting guard in ‘08-09 to be traded at midseason. This move could have been avoided if the Bulls tried to move Hughes last summer, but the organization was trying to cover itself in the future in case Gordon left.

Sure, Sefalosha is probably never going to be a good scorer in the NBA. But if you’re telling me he can’t be a spot, defensive starter on a successful team in today’s league, I’m not going to agree. Look at the Nuggets, who start freaking’ Dantay Jones and are in the Western Conference Finals. Sefalosha and even Kryhapa were young, promising role players whom the Bulls failed to develop as a result of having logjams at their respective positions.

Of course, moving Sefalosha was done with the idea of freeing up some money to try and re-sign Gordon this summer. If the Bulls are able to bring Gordon back and get a player who can add to the team’s depth at number 26 in this year’s draft, the deal would look better to me.

2. July 20, 2006 — Traded J.R. Smith to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Howard Eisley and two 2007 second-round draft picks.

By no means would Smith’s shoot-at-all-costs game fit within Skiles system. Still, the Bulls moved Smith rather quickly after acquiring the former first-round pick along with P.J. Brown from the Hornets for Chandler. This deal basically netted the Bulls Jameson Curry and Aaron Gray. Could the team have done a little better for an explosive, young scoring talent like Smith? It’s a legitimate question, even if you’re not a fan of Smith’s game (which I am not).

The Deals That Never Got Done

Before landing Rose, the Bulls were desperately in need of a franchise player. After Paxson did a good job of acquring a lot of nice pieces in the draft, it seemed as if the Bulls were a possible landing destination for all of the big superstars on the trading block: Kevin Garnett, Paul Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Some of this talk was a bit unrealistic, but that didn’t stop Paxson from being branded as overvaluing his draft picks when these trades never happened.

The Bulls allegedly offered Deng and a few other young players for Garnett, who Minnesota General Manager Kevin McHale would end up trading to his former teammate Danny Ainge in Boston. In my opinion, Garnett would have been the guy to get for the Bulls.

Paxson supposedly offered Memphis a much better deal for Gasol (who wouldn’t have been worth it) than what the Grizzlies got in a cost-cutting move with the Lakers.

As for Bryant, this was not realistically going to happen. Bryant was always going to be a Laker. It was a pipe dream more than anything else. I felt at the time (roughly ‘07-08) that the Bulls shouldn’t have made a move for Bryant, who was the best talent in the game but had yet to mature and make his teammates better, which he has done wonderfully the last two years. I was an advocate of the team trying to sign Deng and Gordon prior to ‘07-08, and felt that the Bulls should have made Gordon a higher priority than Deng last summer.

Ironically, Bryant would have a negative impact on the Bulls, as his trade rumors seemed to bother Chicago’s young players, especially Deng.

When it comes to trades, everything seems feasible to us fans. In reality, a lot of things have to happen for trades to take place. Paxson never landed a Garnett or Bryant, but things happened for a reason, I guess. Somehow the Bulls won the 2008 NBA Draft lottery and got Rose.

Paxson Had Done Much More Good Than Bad with the Bulls

With all of the above moves considered, I would say this about Paxson: he’s a class act who cared about making the Bulls together and did that for the most part.

Chicago fans should be thankful to Paxson for making the Bulls relevant again.

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