Is it fair to blame Paxson for Bulls' disappointing play?
Inside the United Center, the most popular target of dissatisfaction from Bulls fans has been guard Larry Hughes.
In cyberspace, though, there seems to be increasing criticism of general manager John Paxson for the Bulls' failure to build on a second-round playoff appearance in 2007.
I don't know if it's accurate to say Paxson has gotten a free pass from the local media, as some have suggested. But let's check the track record and evaluate.
One thing that's easy to forget now is how many things Paxson did right after he took over for Jerry Krause in April 2003:
• Drafting Kirk Hinrich: Good.
• Hiring coach Scott Skiles: Good.
• Trading Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall to Toronto for Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams. Good.
• Drafting Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon and signing free agent Andres Nocioni. All good.
• Sending Jamal Crawford to New York for cap room and three helpful veterans (Othella Harrington, Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin): Still good.
Signing Scottie Pippen and Kendall Gill didn't work as well, but didn't seem to stall the team's progress for long. The Bulls made a shocking turnaround from an 0-9 start to a 47-26 finish in 2004-05.
Even though the Bulls' best season came in 2006-07 when they won 49 games and swept defending champion Miami in the playoffs, trouble began during the summer of 2006. That's when the Bulls made four decision that can be widely questioned today.
First was drafting Tyrus Thomas, or more specifically, trading the draft rights to LaMarcus Aldridge to Portland for Thomas and Viktor Khryapa, who rarely played for the Bulls. Aldridge is averaging 17.6 ppg, while Thomas is at 8.3.
The Bulls also paid cash to Philadelphia that year to move up three slots in the draft and select Thabo Sefolosha, passing on Ronnie Brewer and Rajon Rondo.
If judgment is made today, both of those draft picks were poor decisions. But those two players have shown flashes of strong play. There is a chance they could still pay off.
The same can't be said for the other two moves of 2006: Signing Ben Wallace as a free agent and trading Tyson Chandler to New Orleans for 37-year-old P.J. Brown.
One line of thinking is the Bulls should have known Wallace's heart wasn't into leaving the Pistons when his wife did most of the talking during Paxson and Skiles' recruiting visit. Even if that wasn't the case, trading the 7-foot-1 Chandler left the Bulls with an undersized and aging front line that couldn't deliver after one strong season.
No doubt a contributing factor to last season's implosion was the fact that the team's highest-paid player (Wallace) was producing so little. He seems much more comfortable out of the spotlight in Cleveland.
The plan was obviously to use Brown's expiring contract to bring Pau Gasol or Kevin Garnett to Chicago, with Khryapa providing insurance at small forward if Deng had to be included in the deal. The problem was, when Gasol was available in February 2007, Deng was playing extremely well. Saying no to a Deng-for-Gasol trade seemed to be an easy decision at the time.
Is it Paxson's fault that Deng hasn't matched his 2006-07 production in the two ensuing seasons? No, but giving Deng a $71 million contract last summer may be called into question.
Drafting Joakim Noah with the No. 9 pick of the 2007 draft seemed to be a no-brainer. He's been disappointing, but would any other GM have chosen Rodney Stuckey or Wilson Chandler with that choice?
Hiring novice coach Vinny Del Negro was another risky move, although it may not have been Paxson's fault that the Bulls missed out on Mike D'Antoni.
Don't even bring up Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were never close to trading him.
All of Paxson's perceived mistakes were erased by last year's lottery luck, which allowed the Bulls to draft a potential star in guard Derrick Rose. If the Bulls drafted Aldridge and didn't get Rose, would they be in better shape now to build a strong team? No one can say for sure.
There is no denying that the higher expectations - which helped create such deep disappointment - exist today because Paxson did an impressive job of rebuilding the franchise from 2003-05. I'd say give him two years to tailor a team around Rose and then reassess.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Tonight's tipoff</p> <p class="News">Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.</p> <p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet</p> <p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WMVP 1000-AM</p> <p class="News"><b>Update:</b> The Bulls shouldn't need a reminder about what happened the last time they faced the Blazers (22-14). They were blown out by 42 points in a game that may not even been as close as the final score indicated. Guard Brandon Roy (22.8 ppg) missed four games with a hamstring injury, then returned with 19 points in Saturday's win over Golden State. PF LaMarcus Aldridge is averaging 17.6 ppg.</p> <p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday, 6 p.m.</p>