A Plea to Pax

With the trade deadline right around the corner, I really don’t envy any general manager in the NBA. While journalists can throw around trade rumors by playing with their trading cards, it’s the GM’s around the league that have to deal with the actual players and the affect it will have on their team.

This season, the GM I least admire is the Bulls’ John Paxson. Paxson has done a tremendous job turning the organization around since Jerry Krause ran it into the ground when the Jordan era came to an end. He’s drafted talented players, hired a smart coach in Scott Skiles and stockpiled tradable parts in the form of young players, draft picks and expiring contracts.

Now, he is at a crossroads however; at 29-25 the Bulls stand sixth in the eastern conference and there haven’t really been any signs they are better than their record suggests. Two years in a row, they’ve been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, and barring a change it’s quite possible that will happen again.

So, Paxson must now decide which of his young players he should continue to build around and which are expendable in a trade for the final piece of the puzzle: a legit big man who can post-up and score with his back to the basket.

At this point, Kevin Garnett seems like nothing more than a dream. Despite the fact that the Timberwolves are barely hanging on to the eighth seed in the west and appear to have no overall direction, GM Kevin McHale seems unwilling to trade the “Big Ticket.” There’s no point to dwell on this anymore, as the reasons continue to grow as to how a trade would benefit the TWolves. But, McHale continues to prove that he doesn’t have the mental capacity to build a winning team.

A few rumblings suggest that Portland might be willing to move Zach Randolph, but at the moment none seem to be substantial. However, Randolph would be the best fit for the Bulls and would probably come relatively cheap.

The rumor that refuses to go away revolves around Memphis Grizzlies All-Star Pau Gasol. The 26-year-old from Barcelona carries career averages of 18.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game. Yet, in 12 chances he has yet to win a single playoff game.

Grizzlies’ GM Jerry West won’t just trade Gasol for spare parts. His initial request from the Bulls asked for both Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, the only two players the Bulls appear completely unwilling to part with.

Deng continues to improve each season, and at the age of 21 he can really turn into a Josh Howard type of player. Meanwhile, Gordon is the one guy Paxson absolutely cannot trade. He is a pure scorer who continues to improve and genuinely enjoys being in Chicago. While his game seemed relatively one dimensional as a pure shooter before this season, he has shown the willingness to drive to the basket by creating his own shot. Often times, he takes a mugging and goes to the free throw line where he shoots around 90 percent.

This is where the beauty of Paxson’s roster and assets should come into play, if he can only get West to listen.

The fact of the matter is that in order to get a legit star big in the NBA, you’ve got to give something up. If that isn’t going to be Deng or Gordon, then it will have to be the other two of the Bulls’ four young talents. While Bulls fans have grown to love Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni, they are expendable in this situation.

Hinrich is a legit point guard, but he has serious flaws in his game. His shot is incredibly inconsistent and when it’s not falling, it becomes awfully hard for the Bulls to win. He tends to dribble too much and run around in circles on the offensive end. Meanwhile, a common misperception is that Hinrich is one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the league. In fact, Hinrich does play a solid defense, but he is also slow when moving side-to-side. Quicker point guards tend to blow past Hinrich rather easily, leading to defensive breakdowns for the entire team.

Nocioni would even be more difficult to part with than Hinrich. Nocioni has raw talent and is still developing. Some nights he resembles Dirk Nowitzki, while others he looks like Dino Radja’s twin brother. Yet, no matter which part of his game is functioning, “Chapu” plays extremely hard each game. He is constantly drawing charges, playing tough defense and diving for loose balls. Those components are essential on any team with championship aspirations.

Beyond Hinrich and Nocioni, the Grizzlies could still ask for a bit more. If that’s the case, give them the choice between Tyrus Thomas and the first-round draft pick the Bulls will receive from the New York Knicks. While the Knicks are playing better this season, it should still be somewhere from the middle to end of the lottery, thus netting one of the ten big men in next year’s exceptionally deep draft class.

Thomas is still extremely raw and isn’t ready to help a team that wants to win now. The only element he brings to the floor is his ability to block shots, but Gasol brings the same attribute and so much more.

Meanwhile, the draft pick will not bring either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. While there are other talented players available, it’s likely that four of the 10 will be a bust or be slow to develop. The Bulls simply don’t want to wait any longer. Assuming, Oden and Durant find early success that means four of the remaining eight will struggle early or forever, thus making the Bulls pick a complete crapshoot.

Throw in the expiring contract of P.J. Brown, who has anticipated a trade for months and you’ve got a deal. Maybe the Grizzlies would even throw in point guard Chucky Atkins, whom they are desperately trying to trade.

So, the trade becomes Nocioni, Hinrich, Brown and Thomas or the draft pick for Gasol and Atkins.

The Bulls keep their top two players while adding the low-post presence they have needed for two years. Gasol not only improves the offense by becoming the go-to scorer, he also opens up more shots for Deng on the wing and Gordon behind the arc.

Gasol also helps Ben Wallace block shots and pull more rebounds underneath the basket. Chris Duhon is plenty capable of running the point and distributing the ball. In this new offense, he shouldn’t have to shoot more than a few times each game.

As for the Grizzlies, they add Hinrich to the mix as the veteran floor general to lead a talented group that includes Nocioni, Mike Miller, Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay. Due to Brown’s expiring contract coming off the books at season’s end, the Grizzlies can add another player. They would also have two lottery picks next summer as well.

They are squarely in the running for Oden and Durant with their own pick and could pick up another big man such as UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough or Nevada’s Nick Fazekas with the pick they’d get from the Bulls. They instantly become a team with the potential to wreak havoc in the superior western conference for years to come.

It’s truly a win-win situation, the way every trade should be. Come on Pax, pick up the phone and make it happen.