This is another guest post from Bokeen. Check out his blog at blog.bokeen.com
Dear Mr. Paxson,
Last week, it was reported that you are considering stepping down from your position as General Manager of the Chicago Bulls. While subsequent reports offered few definitive details, the team did not explicitly deny the report.
If you are struggling with your decision, please allow me to make it easier for you. Please resign after Thursday’s trading deadline; your tenure as GM has been an unmitigated disaster, and it is simply impossible that the team will contend for a title while you are making personnel decisions.
In the season that you became GM, the Bulls finished with 30 wins. Last season, the team finished with 33 wins; this year, the team is on pace to reach 36 wins. While the team did reach the playoffs for three straight seasons, the net result – adding six wins in six years – does not qualify as progress.
While these numbers speak for themselves, a quick review of the team’s roster, player salaries and your personnel decisions suggest that you are not a capable General Manager.
Every player currently on the team was acquired during your tenure as GM. As a result, the quality of the players directly reflects your performance in your current position.
The team has a glut at the guard position. Of the 12 players that see any significant playing time, six are guards. The team has only one true point guard in Derrick Rose. The remaining five have skills that are better suited for the shooting guard position. Three guards, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and benchwarmer Lindsey Hunter, are “tweeners.” They are not tall enough to compete with the league’s other shooting guards, yet they lack the ball handling and playmaking abilities to be effective point guards.
The teams highest paid player, guard Larry Hughes, makes $12.8 million this year. Unable to find a place in coach Vinny Del Negro’s system, the dejected Hughes has not played in over a month and has withdrawn from the team. Hughes’ bloated contract is virtually untradeable, as he is scheduled to make $13.7 million next season.
Hinrich and forward Luol Deng are both signed to lucrative long-term contracts. Hinrich was once regarded as a premiere defensive guard. His skills have steadily regressed and his incessant fouling made him virtually unwatchable last season. Likewise, Deng was once considered a rising star. His performance has steadily slipped over the past two seasons, yet he was rewarded with a new contract last summer.
Forward Andrés Nocioni is an aggressive defender that can occasionally make a big shot. This type of player can be a key piece on a championship team. However, Nocioni earns $8 million this year and is locked up for the next three seasons, with a team option for the fourth. This contract is far too large for a career role player. By comparison, the Charlotte Hornets signed forward James Posey to a contract that will pay him $5.6 million this season. Posey’s career stats are similar to Nocioni’s – Posey scores a little less, but Nocioni’s role is that of a defender, not a scorer.
In recent years, you acquired Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah through the NBA Draft. In two-and-a-half seasons, Thomas has mastered only one part of the game: dunking. His incredible athleticism fails to make up for his constant defensive lapses. Many fans regard him as a “Bum Slayer” – Thomas will have exceptional games against less talented forwards, but fails to compete with above average players.
Noah has been inconsistent and erratic. While he has shown minor improvement in his second season, he often seems lethargic and disinterested on the court. This is incredibly ironic, since Noah was drafted to bring “energy” to the team, yet he is often the least energetic player on the floor.
While a roster full of overpaid players that cannot compete is an indictment of your deficiencies as GM, a look at your personnel decisions is even more revealing.
Your first few draft picks worked out well. A young core of Hinrich, Deng and Gordon proved to be competitive in the Eastern Conference for a brief period of time. Your more recent draft day moves have been highly questionable.
Will Pax be remembered for hitting the big one as a player, or sucking a big one as GM?
2006 was a year full of dubious decisions. You acquired J.R. Smith in the Tyson Chandler trade, and promptly traded him for Howard Eisley and two draft picks. Eisley is an old scrub who never played a game for the team. The picks turned into JamesOn Curry – who was later released – and the mundane Aaron Gray. In effect, you traded Smith, a decent contributor for Denver, for Gray, yet another scrub.
The same year, you traded the draft rights for LaMarcus Aldridge for Thomas and Viktor Khryapa. Aldridge continues to make a significant impact in Portland, while Thomas has become a Bum Slayer and Khryapa is now playing in Russia.
In July 2006, you signed Ben Wallace. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, then 31, was acquired for his defensive prowess and veteran leadership. At the time, I wondered if the aging Wallace would continue to contribute, since big, physical players tend to age quickly. I also questioned if his stats were over-inflated; it was possible that his high rebounding totals were in part due to the fact that he played for the Detroit Pistons, a defensive powerhouse. After all, it must be easier for a big man to pull down rebounds when his teammates force the opponents into taking bad shots.
The Wallace signing proved to be a catastrophe. Wallace’s stats were pathetic in comparison to his stats while in Detroit. Disinterested in following coach Scott Skiles’ direction, Wallace effectively led a team mutiny. This led to poor play and, ultimately Skiles’ dismissal. Months later, you traded Wallace for the bloated contracts of Hughes and Drew Gooden.
You’ve also proven to be incapable of making a big acquisition through a trade. Since the summer of 2007, all-stars Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol were both involved in grossly lopsided trades. While the Bulls were reportedly involved in trade talks, you were unable to make a deal, despite the fact that the Bulls had plenty of assets to offer.
Many fault you for your inability to land a trade for Kobe Bryant in the summer of 2007. I do not fault you for this – Kobe’s no-trade clause made such a trade very difficult. However, it was reported that you considered Deng untradeable at the time. This is an obvious mistake. On a championship team, Deng is a role player, Kobe is a cornerstone. The fact that you were unable to understand this fundamental fact is clearly illustrates your inability to properly evaluate talent.
In addition, your treatment of the coach’s position has been, for lack of a better term, fucking insane. The best move you ever made as GM was hiring Scott Skiles (I am discounting drafting Rose, since this was a no-brainer). Skiles took a group of young players and galvanized them as one of the premier defensive forces in the NBA. His players quit on him due to the aforementioned Wallace-led mutiny, leading to his dismissal. Later that season, Wallace was traded for underperforming and disrupting team chemistry. The irony is that you favored a prima donna player by dismissing the coach and were later forced to trade that same prima donna player.
While seeking Skiles’ replacement, you were unable to sign Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins – two highly capable coaches. You opted for the inexperienced Vinny Del Negro, who was proven to be completely unqualified for his job.
At times, Del Negro looks overwhelmed on the sidelines. His coaching decisions are preposterous. The most recent example was last Thursday, when the Bulls played the Miami Heat. With seconds left in a tie game, the Bulls had the ball, yet their best player, Rose, was on the bench. After turning over the ball, the team did not realize that they had one foul to give. Had they fouled away from the ball, they could have forced Miami to craft an inbounds play to win with only seconds left on the clock. Instead, Shawn Marion’s game-winning dunk sealed the victory for the Heat.
The Miami game illustrates a simple fact that the other 31 teams and the national media are already aware of: Del Negro is the worst coach in the entire league. He is no more qualified to lead an NBA team than I am qualified to perform an organ transplant. (In case you are wondering, I have no experience in surgery, and I was never any good at the board game “Operation”.)
Mr. Paxson, a 1,300 word review of your record reveals as simple fact: you suck as GM. Please, step aside and allow someone who is capable and qualified take over.
You’ve had six years to improve this team, yet the Bulls are still fundamentally bad at basketball. Kindly step aside and hand the team over to someone who knows what the fuck they are doing.
Yours truly,
bokeen
0
