ZephMarshack wrote:
Nas wrote:
I disagree. When Paxson was in charge the Bulls were competing for a championship every year and drafted well.
No they weren't. They've been a lot closer to competing for a championship ever since the Beaker era began than they were at any point in Paxson's solo tenure. And it's hard to say they drafted well when the most well known draft decision Pax made was trading Aldridge for Thomas.
Paxson's entire reputation is based on simply not being Jerry Krause (or now, Gar Forman) and luckboxing into Rose. Other than that there's nothing to suggest he's anything other than a completely mediocre executive.
It's a mixed bag at best. He did right the ship when he first took over. Fostered a culture change by hiring the right coach, hit on his picks, and as a result they went to the playoffs for the first time since Jordan. Totally whiffed on his next coach, another unproven guy like Hoiberg, but corrected that by hiring Thibs. Whatever Thibs built up was of course destroyed by Hoiberg. Here's what I wrote in a different thread:
veganfan21 wrote:
I see four eras of Bulls ball under Pax:
2003-2007: My opinion is this was an overall positive period for the Bulls since they finally recovered from the post Jordan disaster years by becoming a more professional team. Hinrich, Gordon and Deng were good picks. Really bad Ben Wallace signing.
2007-2009: Whatever professionalization achieved under Skiles was almost completely undone by Vinny. Bad choice. Floundering period for the Bulls. Got lucky with Rose. Good pick in Noah. Missed on Tyrus Thomas.
2009-2015: Bulls best period of success since the late 90s.
2015-present: Seemingly directionless. Maybe it is time to go?