All any of us can do is try to read minds concerning the Bulls.

What is general manager John Paxson thinking while searching for a new head coach? What is club chairman Jerry Reinsdorf thinking when he gets involved? Most of all, what was Mike D'Antoni thinking when he spurned them?

D'Antoni might have signed in New York because new Knicks president Donnie Walsh is more experienced at running an NBA front office than Paxson is. Or he might think LeBron James will prefer New York when he becomes a free agent.

But here's another possibility: D'Antoni didn't trust what his long-term security would be with the Bulls.

So many signs pointed to Chicago. The impression was Bulls players fit D'Antoni's offense-oriented system better. His sensitivity to criticism wouldn't play well in New York. Finally, the Knicks are a mess.

Yet D'Antoni chose to go there instead of here, which should frighten Bulls fans.

D'Antoni did meet with Reinsdorf and Paxson. When hiring coaches for the Bulls, managers for the White Sox or GMs for either, Reinsdorf likes to look into a candidate's eyes.

Well, maybe D'Antoni reversed the process. Maybe he looked into the eyes of Reinsdorf and especially Paxson and wasn't comfortable seeing what he saw.

With the Knicks, D'Antoni will be the head coach under Walsh, who would look good to anybody in New York just because he isn't Isiah Thomas.

Walsh is a career NBA executive respected around basketball by players, coaches and other management types.

If nothing else, Walsh figures to be running the Knicks for years because he is newly hired.

D'Antoni reportedly wanted a new boss he could work closely with and have sort of a single heartbeat with while rebuilding an organization in disarray.

Paxson also appears to fit that mold, as a GM entrenched in the franchise he helped win NBA championships as a player.

Ah, but maybe D'Antoni looked into Paxson's eyes and saw something else. Maybe he saw a GM whose eyes have witnessed the worries of the world.

One school of thought proposed to me -- I'm only guessing it isn't from a nursery school -- is that Paxson isn't certain being an NBA general manager is his calling in life.

This past season was difficult for Paxson. The team he constructed began crumbling around him. Good players he drafted from successful college programs became mediocre, unsuccessful and, worst of all, undisciplined.

Next season will be a turning point for the Bulls, after which exactly where Paxson turns will be interesting.

If the Bulls are terrible again, Reinsdorf might look for a way to gently ease out Paxson for his good as well as the team's.

If the Bulls play better under a new coach, Paxson could decide it's time to leave them in improving shape and move on to a less consuming career.

It could be D'Antoni looked into Walsh's eyes and saw an NBA lifer he could work with for at least the length of his four-year, $24-million contract.

Meanwhile, it could be D'Antoni looked into Paxson's eyes, saw a general manager who would be gone after one season and didn't want to become a head coach out of sync contractually and philosophically with a new GM.

Just guessing, but maybe stability is why Mike D'Antoni preferred the Knicks to the Bulls.

mimrem@dailyherald.com