by Rickhouse on May 13 at 1:45AM
It’s hard to bash two guys who have been as great to the Bulls organization as Jerry Reinsdorf and John Paxson have been over the course of their careers. Six titles, championship-clinching shots, and rebuilding from the Floyd-Cartwright mess is great. Those two guys deserve a lot of credit for all that. But since this mini Bulls resurgence started a few years ago, the two have had all the chances in the world to make the Bulls a legit title contender during a period when their conference has never been weaker. Of course, they failed to do so, and now the Bulls will be stuck in this funk for a very, very long time. Simply put, Paxson fucked up. He fucked up bad. It’s that simple.
Forget about the KG and Gasol rumors that lasted seemingly forever. Consider this: in the course of nine months, the Bulls had the best player and the best coach without a title in the league practically begging to come. That should have been it. It should have been a done deal. With Kobe and D’Antoni, the Bulls are the NBA’s most exciting team. They’re good for 150 points a night, and are probably just as good if not better than the Celtics and Pistons. After putting up with loads of shit since MJ retired, this would have been the Bulls reintroduction to the NBA’s elite. With any sort of competent management, it would have happened.
But no, because Reinsdorf and Paxson are pussies, too scared to stray away from their safe and moderately successful past. They wouldn’t act fast enough to get Kobe, when a deal could have surely been made. As I wrote at the time, give them Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace, and Kirk Hinrich. They all suck anyways. But Pax didn’t do it, hoping that Kobe would put so much pressure on the Lakers that they’d be forced to trade their superstar for a fraction of the return. This, of course, never happened. Andrew Bynum emerged into one of the NBA’s best young big men, and then the whole Gasol ordeal poured more salt on the existing wound.
All because Pax wouldn’t trade Luol Deng. Think about that for a second. Deng is a nice player and great guy, but we’re talking about Kobe Bryant here. And he’s not in Chicago because the Bulls wouldn’t trade a young small forward who can’t shoot threes and isn’t particularly athletic. Love 18-foot jumpers? Luol is your guy. But he’s never going to blow by anyone and his ceiling is far lower than anyone in the organization will ever believe. Luol Deng will never be a star. He’ll be fortunate to ever even emerge as one of the NBA’s best 40 players. But the Bulls are stuck with him and his upcoming $60 million contract, instead of having the league’s best player since MJ. Let’s not forget that Kobe had his heart set on coming here. It could have happened. It should have happened. All for Luol fucking Deng.
You would think the Bulls brass would have learned. But no. They did it again, this time with former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni. It’d be one thing if Pax felt Coach D wasn’t a good fit with the organization. I’d disagree, but could see his point. Then, after D’Antoni signs with the Knicks, you read this:
"Unfortunately, we were never given an opportunity to make an offer of any kind, which is the most disappointing thing in all of this. I thought it would have been fair to listen to what we had to say. But at the end of the day we simply weren't given the opportunity to do so. I now will continue to search for the proper fit for our current roster."
Oh, you were never given the chance to make an offer? Well no fucking shit. This guy was begging you to make one for a whole week. And you didn’t. Cause you wanted to think about it. So don’t give Pax any sympathy. This was an easy decision. D’Antoni is The Man, and he wanted to coach the Bulls. It should have been a done deal from day one. But Pax acted too slow, making sure that this is what the organization really needed. What happens? Before the Bulls are about to match the Knicks offer, D’Antoni doesn’t give them the chance. And why should he? This should have been over right away. As it dragged out, the Knicks and their endless funds only became more of a threat.
So get ready for Tom Thibodeau, who will probably be solid. But he’s not D’Antoni. Just like Deng isn’t Kobe. Everything could have been so great. It should have been. Everyone bashes White Sox general manager Kenny Williams all the time but I’d rather have my favorite team’s GM have balls than be a complete pussy. Paxson is a pussy. And the Bulls paid for it.
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Comments
Yeah, but if you remember, things got so intense there for a while, I'm sure they could have got around it. And there were also rumors that Kobe wanted to play with Ben Wallace. So you don't know what's true and how close they really were to a deal. But there was so much hype, I'm sure they could have come to some acceptable combination for everyone.
After reading this I can only ask you the old Stephen Hawkins adage: What came first my top ten or your rant? But we are both right about Pax, puss. For the brilliance behind this post go to toptenchicagosports.com
Well stated rickhouse, nice job. Then to add salt to the wound Kobe wins his first MVP.. ROSE OR DIE '08
Phillips may literally die of excitement. Or decide he hates Rose ten minutes later. One or the other.
Fantastic article. The Bulls have been nothing but frustrating lately.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.....
Every single one of you - and you know who you are - that didn't want Kobe Bryant on the Bulls needs to stand up, smack themselves in the face and promise to never talk about basketball or sports in general ever again because you are a blithering, drooling moron!
I must have missed all those Suns championships.
Didn't Kobe say he'd veto a trade to the Bulls if Deng was sent to the Lakers? I'm pretty sure I remember that. Kobe didn't want to leave what he thought was a hopeless situation in L.A. only to trade it for a hopeless situation in Chicago.