Why did the Bulls decide to rebuild? 'It's complicated,' says Paxson
Bulls basketball has been a series of lowlights in recent years.
Crowds at the United Center are dwindling, the Bulls are losing games they thought they could win, and fan frustration is mounting.
So for Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, there really is just one question: Why did management choose to rebuild?
Everything going on right now was eminently predictable. The Bulls chose to be bad. They asked for this. They embraced this.
During the ugly rebuild of 1999-2003, Paxson did radio and was the most miserable person in the organization. Yet he and Jerry Reinsdorf somehow came to the conclusion, "Let's revisit the worst era in Bulls history. Remember how horrible that was? We want that." So, well, why was that the choice?
"Well, it's complicated," Paxson said in a one-on-one interview Saturday at the United Center. "I can't really define it in a ... in this day and age when you have to make commitments to players financially and that type of thing, I felt, and I think we all did that we were plugging holes. Every year we were plugging holes and that wasn't sustainable.
"Not making excuses, but when Derrick (Rose) got hurt, that really kind of set things in motion where it changed a lot of how we were looking at things. I mean, it did. So look, I haven't looked back on that. We went full in. I felt at that time we were doing it for the right reasons and we're trying to get back to where we want to be."
Paxson seems to be referencing not wanting to pay Jimmy Butler a supermax contract. Of course, the Bulls could have tried to negotiate a deal that worked for both sides. They didn't have to hand over the largest contract possible.
The flaws in this plan should have been crystal clear back in 2017. You win with stars in the NBA, as evidenced by Miami's 19-7 record with a team built around Butler. And this isn't the 1980s - the draft is a crapshoot with all the one-and-dones. Of the 30 top-ten picks in the last three drafts, there's been one guy, Dallas' Luka Doncic, who turned a team around.
In today's NBA, great teams are built in trades and free-agency. The Bulls had an all-star in Butler, a great potential pitch man in Dwyane Wade and cap space on the way. The Bulls should have been players for Anthony Davis this summer; instead, they were drafting Coby White.
The problem is, there's no rewinding history. What's done is done. So let's move on to the next prevailing question.
People ask all the time why Paxson and Gar Forman are still around and the answer is straightforward. Paxson did a nice job building a playoff team after Jerry Krause's rebuild failed. They built a good roster around Rose. They had a great run in the draft, getting Butler, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic with picks below 20. From 2003-15, the Paxson era was successful.
Without question, though, GarPax has been in a slump. It appears they did OK with the three straight No. 7 draft picks, but most of the other decisions haven't gone well.
The Bulls cut Spencer Dinwiddie, signed Cristiano Felicio to a ridiculous $32 million contract, put too much faith in Otto Porter, drafted Doug McDermott, traded for Cameron Payne, thought Antonio Blakeney was an NBA player, signed Jabari Parker and don't have enough veterans on the current roster. The sample size is relatively small, but it appears they overrated Tomas Satoransky and Luke Kornet, while undervaluing Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine.
Fred Hoiberg, the choice to replace successful coach Tom Thibodeau, didn't pan out and now Jim Boylen has been thrown into a tough situation.
So I asked Paxson if they've taken a critical look at why so many recent decisions have gone awry.
"I'm constantly looking at that, but I'm not going to share with anybody what I share with Jerry and Mike (Reinsdorf), our ownership group," he said. "I'll just leave that one at that."
I asked Paxson what he's most encouraged by. He mentioned Wendell Carter Jr. becoming a solid NBA player and the Bulls turning into one of the league's better defensive teams in recent weeks.
Those are valid points, but the Bulls are still light-years from title contention. There aren't enough quality players on the roster and it will be tough to make changes in the near future because there's no cap space and too many bad contracts on the books.
"Here's where we're at - first of all, we all thought we would have a better record than we have right now, we really did," Paxson said. "There's a lot of reasons for it and I take ownership of it. The thing I probably miscalculated was with Jim and a new staff and putting in a new system, especially offensively.
"No rebuilding process is overnight. I know there's no quick fix to this thing right now. I own that. I own the fact that we all thought we'd have a better record than this. But we're going to keep grinding."
No quick fixes and no going back in time. Sorry, Bulls fans, but this will take a while.
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Bulls game day
Bulls vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, Monday 7 p.m. at Chesapeake Energy Arena
TV: NBCSCH; Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Outlook: Despite losing Russell Westbrook and Paul George this summer, the Thunder (11-14) has stayed competitive. ... The top scorers are former Clippers Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (18.5 ppg) and Danilo Gallinari (17.6). PG Chris Paul is averaging 15.6 points and 6.3 assists in his new home, while holdovers Dennis Schroder (17.0 ppg) and Steven Adams (11.2) round out the top five. ... This is the Thunder's first game in Oklahoma City after going 2-2 on a four-game road trip.
Next: Washington Wizards on Wednesday 6 p.m. at Capital One Arena
- Mike McGraw