PLEASE PULL THE PLUG ON PAX

As a displaced Chicago sports fan living in Connecticut, it’s hard to follow the teams or the media coverage as well as I did as a child. Sure, the Internet has made it possible to read the sports sections of the local newspapers. But, it’s impossible to watch Comcast SportsNet or listen to “670 the Score” for more than an hour each day.

So, maybe I am just missing something here. Maybe I’m just skimming over the stories or tuning out the media’s call for a new Bulls general manager.

I remember a time when the Chicago media had a spine and weren’t afraid to write columns demanding certain coaches or general managers get fired because a major city deserved better from its professional teams.

The Chicago media aided in the departure of one high profile sports entity recently—Jay Mariotti—and that’s it.

Sometimes an article will pop up criticizing Jerry Angelo—and rightfully so—aren’t 2nd and 3rd round picks from a year ago supposed to be contributing now, not filing for unemployment? (Hello, Dan Bazuin and Michael Okwo the line forms to the left).

For some reason White Sox GM Ken Williams still takes a lot of heat despite having a pretty good track record in trades and being the only general manager in Chicago to have held up a championship trophy.



Yet mysteriously, one name keeps escaping the slaughterhouse line: John Paxson. Listen, I loved Pax as a player and appreciate the role he played on the 1991, ’92 and ’93 championship teams. Who could forget the game-winning three in Phoenix?

But, let’s call a spade a spade and admit the guy isn’t very good at this whole making a good team thing.

Before calling me crazy, remove Derrick Rose from the equation. Rose has shown that he is a future superstar, deserving to be regarded with Chris Paul among the league’s elite point guards. But Paxson didn’t exercise a single skill to acquire him. Anyone could have been the GM and gotten Rose. It was pure luck, a crazy bounce of ping-pong balls. No trades or clever maneuvering required.

Much the same way Rod Thorn doesn’t get a lot of credit for drafting Michael Jordan when he fell into his lap with the 3rd pick in the 1984 draft, Paxson gets no credit for drafting Rose—he was guaranteed a future star no matter which player he chose.

In the meantime, the Bulls have fallen back into the world of irrelevant NBA teams, continuing to regress rather than improve. What’s worse is that the pathetic eastern conference might allow them to sneak into the playoffs—Hooray!

After failing to realize that Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon were nice players but not superstar material, Paxson failed to do what any good GM does and package the good pieces he’d developed to land said superstar.

Kevin Garnett? Apparently great defenders that can score in the post and lead teams to NBA titles aren’t as valuable as mediocre players.

Pau Gasol? Apparently Pax had a better offer on the table, but Memphis ownership just wanted a salary dump. Merely a failure to communicate on Paxson’s part or he could have offered similar, yet better garbage than the Lakers gave up.

Brandon Roy or Lamarcus Aldridge? It’s painful to watch the young Trail Blazers these days with two players the Bulls could have had. Paxson failed to realize Roy was an All-Star waiting to happen or that Aldridge was the answer to the post problems that currently plague the franchise. Instead, he traded Aldridge for a future Harlem Globetrotter capable of jumping into the upper deck. A nice show for some fans, but Tyrus Thomas throws up so many bricks he can build a mansion in Northbrook despite the bad housing market.

The rest of the roster is riddled with sub-par talent or bad contracts:

Hinrich? Has been on the decline since signing his massive extension and is nothing more than a worse version of Paxson—as a player. Regarded so poorly around the NBA, teams won’t even trade other bad contracts for him.

Deng? Being paid money worthy of a franchise player when--in reality--he’s a bad 2nd option or good 3rd option on a championship-caliber team. Deng claims he’s lost in the current offense or maybe it’s just that he’s lost his mid-range jump shot and the ability to get into the lane.

Gordon? Probably the guy that should have gotten the contract handed to Deng. Gordon has the best shooting touch on the team and the ability to create his own shot. When he’s on the court with Rose it has caused serious match up problems for the opposition--just ask Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. Meanwhile, he’ll most likely be gone next season after his one-year deal expires.



Andres Nocioni? Possibly the worst contract handed out by Paxson—so far. Nocioni is the type of player that would fit perfectly on a championship team as a hustler off the bench. But, he doesn’t do anything particularly well and is being paid like a starter. His contract is so bad, he’s another player teams won’t take unless he is packaged or in the final year of this ludicrous deal.

Thabo Sefolosha? Paxson’s rationale with this pick is that he needed a long, athletic guard to defend LeBron James. That’s all well and good except for two big problems: 1) the league doesn’t reward defense unless the entire team plays it--like the Spurs--and 2) there isn’t a single player in all of basketball capable of guarding “King James.” What’s more disturbing is the fact that Sefolosha’s offense doesn’t appear to have developed one bit.

Joakim Noah? Please just retire and go live in your parents’ French villa already. I knew he had no offensive abilities whatsoever, I didn’t know those deficiencies would make me want to bring Yinka Dare out of retirement. At the very least, he could provide the effort and rebounding on display at Florida but that’s been mysteriously absent as well. Like a game of horse, Noah is very close to completing the B-U-S-T, only he can’t make a shot to close it out.

Larry Hughes? Will be traded by the deadline or next off-season, but I am very surprised Paxson hasn’t paid him to just go sit at home much like he did with Tim Thomas.

Drew Gooden and Aaron Gray? Besides Gordon and Rose, these are the only other players on the roster worth their contract. With any help down low, Gooden might actually be a valuable component in the future. Gray’s skills are limited but every team has a slow, tall 7-footer on the roster.

Then there’s the wonderful signing of first-year coach Vinny Del Negro, who looks completely lost at times and clearly lacks the direction or knowledge to be a coach. It is becoming more evident with each passing game that this is actually Dell Harris’ team and Del Negro was hired to handle the press. Pax does not get a pass for simply putting “head coach” in front of the wrong Del.

Paxson has managed the salary cap so poorly; the Bulls were in no position to bring Elton Brand back this past off-season and will have no room to make a run at Carlos Boozer this coming off-season. Thrilling.

The entire league is gearing up for the LeBron sweepstakes in 2010, a free agent class that could also include Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Wouldn’t an all-Chi town backcourt of Wade and Rose look nice? Or maybe the signing of a legit post presence like Bosh to run the floor or set up a half court set with Rose?

As long as Paxson is still the GM, don’t hold your breath. It’s hard to have faith the right move is coming when so many prior moves have been wrong. If the Chicago media begins to resemble its old self, hopefully Pax will be thrown out of town before he has the chance to screw up the future as well.