I've been listening and reading a lot of local and national media the past couple weeks and Forman has become their official Bulls punching bag. They're beating him up over even the most innocuous quotes. Whether he deserves it almost doesn't matter. He's got a "Kick Me" sign on his back and it ain't going anywhere for a while. The only things he has going for him are: 1) Jerry Reinsdorf has an almost pathological disdain for the media. If the media tells him he has to fire someone, it's more likely than not that this will strengthen his resolve to keep him. 2) True or not, Hoiberg is considered Forman's guy. With Forman's remodeled roster, if Hoiberg is able to demonstrate that he's a legit NBA head coach, Forman will be vindicated to an extent. We can all argue over whether the individual moves that have been made will succeed or fail, basketball is a team game and if a group of players can find a synergy (see Atlanta Hawks 2014-15), winning cures all ills. On the other hand, if Hoiberg's 2016-17 Bulls struggle like this past year's squad did, the pressure to fire Forman will become irresistible...and IMO, deserved.
We have a very bad FO. Look what the Thunder did last night! Got rid of someone that was declining the last three years! And got better!! We will not improve, simply because EVERYONE will have money to spend this summer.
He he, the Bulls just got rid of a player who has been on a much steeper decline than Ibaka. I guess it all depends on how you want to look at it.
Forman was hired to shield Paxson from scrutiny. He's doing a good job of that. He'll be fired - Paxson keeps collecting paychecks. Paxson, in 13 years of collecting paychecks of running the basketball operations of this franchise, has made the Eastern Conference Finals one time. We have a bad front office.
Not surprisingly, I'm not there. Some time ago, I stopped combining Paxson and Forman. I view Paxson as primarily responsible for personnel decisions prior to Rose and Forman responsible for those decisions after. Paxson did a GREAT job of changing the culture after Krause was fired. I will always be grateful for this since it ended the bleakest period of Bulls basketball I've seen. I understood and supported his signing of Ben Wallace and his trading of Tyson Chandler. Both made sense under the circumstances. Paxson was the GM who drafted Rose instead of Beasley. While he shouldn't have done it, I've never been all that bothered by Paxson grabbing Del Negro by the tie when VDN played Noah more minutes than they had agreed on. I give Forman credit for trying to build a team around Rose. Gibson and Butler were 2 great late first round draft picks for which Forman can be proud. Teague was a late first-round miss, but these happen more often than not. Firing Thibodeau is on Forman as is hiring Hoiberg. Mirotic, McDermott and Portis are Forman's guys. It is clearly not a good thing that players like Deng and Noah have hinted that they couldn't trust the Bulls' FO. All this said, the Bulls were potentially a contender as long as you believed that Rose could return to something approaching his MVP form. For me, last season was when I gave up on this hope.. Rose was not merely something less than a MVP-level player, statistically, he was arguably the worst starting PG in the league. I don't put this on Forman or Paxson...it's just bad luck. Now that Rose is gone, the Bulls need to rebuild a team. I'm glad that they've elected to build around Butler. He's very good on both ends. While it's fair to point out that the Bulls haven't won a championship or even made the Finals in a long time, it's also fair to point out that only a few teams (Cavs, Heat, Spurs, Lakers, Warriors, Mavs and Magic) have made the Finals during this period. It ain't easy. I'm a Bulls' fan and want them to succeed as much as anybody...anybody. If I thought that firing Paxson would help them succeed, I'd say so. If I thought that firing Forman would get them closer to winning a championship, I'd say so. Players who leave the Bulls routinely speak very highly of Jerry Reinsdorf. None I've heard have complained about Paxson. Forman has received some bad "exit interviews." For me, Forman's on probation.
Paxson created a mediocre team of rah rah "right way" college guys. He signed Kirk Hinrich to big money and offered Ben Gordon big money. He actually thought that a team with a "core 4" of Hinrich / Gordon / Deng and Nocioni could be a championship contender and attempted to lock those guys down for big money. Those Bulls made the first round of the playoffs a few times and won 1 playoff series. Not good. They were tanking. Funny, that's what many Bulls fans want to see again. They don't want 1st round of the playoffs and out. The same GM that was doing the tanking is also the one who built two separate rosters that won 3 titles each. His name is in the rafters. Paxson's isn't and won't, based on his mediocre first 13 years. Of course you are not. You are and have always been a Paxson apologist. Its not really bothersome, just shows him to be a thin skinned controlling asshole. He removed himself from a position where he has to do that anymore. He doesn't have to answer to the press anymore and when he does he exhibits the same thin skin. He's a prickly pear. Firing Thibs was clearly a GarPax decision. Paxson is the VP of basketball operations. While Foreman has influence, Paxson is heavily involved as well. Thibs made sure both Gar and Pax knew what he thought of their mental makeup. GarPax didn't like that. Now the Bulls are losers again and Thibs is a president / coach. I wonder what Paxson would fetch on the open market? That's really funny to think about, isn't it? Player personnel improved with Foreman's involvement. No more "right way" idiocy and silly anti-headband rules. Some really solid draft picks. Noah. Butler. Some claim that Matt Lloyd was the main guy behind this run of success. It hasn't continued since his departure. Foreman, and his scouting team, probably would not be foolish enough to build a team around Hinrich/ Gordon / Deng and Nocioni though. It was an improvement and, behind Rose and Thibs, the Bulls were legit contenders again. Even without Rose the Bulls always surprised to the upside. Thibs could win with girls. Paxson is the head of that operation. Yes. The way they treated Thibs though had nothing to do with luck. That was just flat out shitty behavior. And yet many Bulls fans are upset. They know that Butler isn't enough and without high draft picks, given this front office's failure time and time again to land the big free agent fish, many are despondent. I can't really blame them. Its looking like back to the days of 1st round and out at best, if the Bulls even make the playoffs, while not being bad enough to get likely impact players in the draft. Miserable NBA middle. Paxson's style lives here in perpetuity. If the Bulls didn't luck into the Rose pick it would have likely been this way for all 13 years. 13 years and the Bulls have appeared (not won) in the Eastern Conference Finals one time. That's awful. That's Paxson. Want to compile a list of teams in the last 13 years that made it to the conference finals? The Bulls have a rotten culture that has become a joke nationally and Paxson is the VP of Basketball Operations. In 13 years he has not accomplished anything of note, other than a brief run when they lucked into a MVP and the owner got a coaching tip from a cabinet member turned out to be one of the elite head coaches around. And Paxson and Foreman mucked up that relationship. They didn't want to hire him to begin with. They are mediocrities that offer zero to negative value. The whole culture needs to change. Paxson is the head of that snake. Bulls would be better off seeking a front office that adds value. ---- I have little doubt that if there is more losing Gar Foreman will be fired and Paxson will keep his job. Foreman was hired to distance Paxson from accountability. When he's fired, Paxson will keep collecting paychecks, even though the basketball operations are mediocre at best.
ppreciat Good context. But the FO is Gar, not his boss, and Gar isn't even trying to compete against the rest of the east. I don't really know what he's doing anymore. Players, coaches, etc don't like him. Thibs got tossed out for spoiling the environment and on that basis Gar should have one foot on a banana peel and the other on slick ice. Is Butler good enough to build around?
