The Chicago Bulls were active during Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. When all the dust settled, the team acquired Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow for Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a second round pick. Many believe the Bulls did not get the better end of that deal with the Thunder, and there is dissent regarding what direction the Bulls are going.
ESPN’s Nick Friedell reports Bulls executives John Paxson and Gar Forman reject the narrative that the front office is not in agreement. Gar Forman said:
We’re all on the same page. We’ve met, we’ve put the plan in place. Obviously any plan, it’s going to be fluid, and there’s going to be different things that arise where you’ll have to make decisions, but without a question we are all on the same page.
Forman is correct in that any plan has some contingencies in place for the unexpected. But, you’re either doing a full scale rebuild or your not. Rumor has it, Jimmy Butler was on the trading block yesterday. Apparently the compensation they were offered was not enough to move him. It seems that is where the point of contention exists between the front office duo of Forman/Paxson and the Reinsdorf’s; team owners. Again, if you’re all on board for a rebuild, there should be no contention. Butler is your best asset, get as much as you can for him. Paxson said:
Right now, today, Jimmy’s on our roster. And Jimmy’s under contract for two more years. He is a terrific player. You guys know, this league is fluid. Things can change quickly. But again, we have such great respect for Jimmy and his value in this league and his value is extremely high. If people think there’s an opportunity to get him, they have to know that they can’t come and try to throw something out there that we would never do. I’ve always felt this way about team-building and a team in general: There’s very few guys who you build around, OK? This is a team game. You build with players. We are building with Jimmy right now, OK. We think Cam Payne [the key return piece in the OKC trade] is the type of guy that can come in and take some of the ball handling load off of Jimmy … but I’m a very firm believer that maybe outside of handful of guys that have ever played this game, you build with players, not around one.
Sounds like a lot of couching here from Pax. Is Jimmy the kind of player you build around? Or is he one of the players you build a team with? Yes, the NBA is fluid and things can change quickly. But, I have to believe if you really are looking to rebuild all the moves you make are about gathering assets in the form of draft picks and young talent with team friendly contracts. This begs the question, why did they sign Dwyane Wade this summer and bring in Rajon Rondo? Not guys you would associate with a rebuild.
A name not mentioned in any of this is Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg. The Bulls put a lot of faith in Hoiberg as the man to lead the Bulls back to the promise land. Hoping they could do what the Celtics did with Brad Stevens. Difference here is Stevens has proven he can coach in this league and Danny and the Celtics did a full scale rebuild. This current Bulls roster is full of strong willed veterans, even with Gibson leaving. How do we think practice, film and locker room sessions go with Fred Hoiberg in charge?
Looks like the Bulls thought they could bring in Hoiberg, and with guys like Noah and Rose gone he would be the voice in the locker room. Doesn’t look like there was agreement on what to do with the roster once those guys were gone. Bringing in Wade and Rondo may have given someone in the brass the idea that the team could contend for a decent playoff seed. Currently they are in 7th position and a game under .500, not exactly a contender and not in the lottery. The worse place you can be as an NBA franchise. Not sure what the Bulls are planning but they better figure it out.