Burned twice, will Reinsdorf become gun-shy?

After last week's Ben Wallace trade, Bulls general manager John Paxson talked about being positioned for when the next major acquisition opportunity presents itself.

Makes you wonder how eager Jerry Reinsdorf will be to take that plunge.

The Bulls/White Sox chairman must be more comfortable this week than last. He has another young core instead of the expensive, old Wallace.

The Bulls gave Big Ben a four-year, $60 million contract. Didn't' work out. Less than two seasons later they were thrilled to dump him on the Cavaliers.

The Wallace misadventure was similar to that of Albert Belle, whom the Sox gave a big contact prior to the 1997 season.

Again, didn't work out. After two years the Sox were thrilled the Orioles were foolish enough to free them of his salary.

So now history raises questions and eyebrows as Paxson talks of acquiring that next big-name, big-game, big-money difference-maker who will complete the Bulls' championship mission.

No problem if it's a solid citizen/superstar like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade. The issue would be someone riskier like Wallace or especially Belle.

Next time there might not be a Cleveland or Baltimore desperate enough to erase the mistake.

Reinsdorf was a lot bolder when he and Eddie Einhorn bought the Sox in 1981.

One of the first things he did was bring in Carlton Fisk and Greg Luzinski, leading to a 1983 division title.

This big-market team acted like a, well, a big-market team.

Einhorn was unsure baseball farm systems were even necessary when a club like the Sox could acquire what it needed via free agency. Reinsdorf boasted that the Sox would never lose a player to free agency that they wanted to retain.

Ah, but then sports economics changed and going outside for players became more dubious as the financial risk-reward balance tilted toward risk.

The Sox and Bulls -- whom Reinsdorf's group purchased in 1985 -- found it more expensive to take the chance of buying players. Profitability required a much different business plan.

Preferable was building slowly, patiently, prudently. Building from within with youngsters. Building fiscally conservatively.

Instead of buying stars, the teams drafted and developed their own -- Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant with the Bulls and Frank Thomas, Jack McDowell and Robin Ventura with the Sox.

General managers continued to talk a good game, which is why you have to be curious whether that's what Paxson did last week.

Recently the Bulls reportedly were interested in trading for Kobe Bryant. Sox general manager Kenny Williams always reportedly is bidding for high-priced players. The splashy names Reinsdorf's teams expressed interest in could fill a Chicago-sized phonebook.

However, Belle in the 1990s and Wallace in the '00s were the exceptions answering the call.

Better to have marketing slogans like the Sox' "The Kids Can Play" at the turn of the century. Might "No Team for Old Men" be the Bulls' next one?

Seriously, Reinsdorf can still sell competitiveness without trying to buy championships. Hope can still fill his arenas without financial risk filling his rosters.

So the question now is how willing Reinsdorf would be to pay for that next potential title piece, considering the meager returns Belle and Wallace gave him on his investments.

Disasters are known to come in threes, you know.