Bulls VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson, along with general manager Gar Forman, are infamously quiet during the season. Getting an interview out of them between October and May can be as painful as pulling teeth.
However, 670 The Score’s Morning Drive crew ‘Mully and Hanley’ were able to get John Paxson on the line this morning. Normally, during the rare in-season interviews Paxon does give, the interview content is pretty standard and fluffed. But with yesterday’s Nikola Mirotic news, Paxson opened up a little bit more than usual.
On @mullyhanley, John Paxson said #Bulls had great idea of money Niko Mirotic would want next summer in free agency based on his restricted free agency this past summer. He added team understood how that money would affect rest of core.
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) February 2, 2018
We will continue to be conservative with Zach's minutes, he needs to keep strength up, he may not see 40 minutes this year, 30 probably, Dunn doing better but he had a bit of setback. #Bulls VP of BB ops John Paxson #BullsontheScore
— Mully And Hanley (@mullyhanley) February 2, 2018
So there are some interesting and honest thoughts there regarding part of the motivation to trade Niko as well as how they plan on using Lavine down the stretch, with an update on the concussed Kris Dunn sprinkled in. What caught my eye most, however, were his comments about ‘tanking’ and future spending.
You don't want to NOT win games it can create a bad culture, but we've lost a few close games & group came out good & continued to work hard….#Bulls VOP of BB ops John Paxson. #BullsontheScore
— Mully And Hanley (@mullyhanley) February 2, 2018
This comment was interesting because there were a lot of fans that became, upset isn’t the right word, but uncomfortable with how well the Bulls played in December and most of January. The team went 15-8 after starting the season 3-20, climbing all the way up to the 9th worst record in the league at one point, just five games out of the playoffs.
On one hand, it was excellent to see Dunn break out and Lauri Markkanen showcase talent that we weren’t sure he had. Mirotic came back and established good trade value, and eventually Zach Lavine showed up with no signs of lost athleticism after last February’s ACL tear. All of that is good.
On the other hand, the Bulls were winning enough games to pull them away from the top of the lottery board, lessening their chances of adding another top young player to join the young corps of Dunn-Markkanen-Lavine.
Both options considered, Paxson makes a good point. You don’t want to trot out a roster, headlined by at least three players you plan on building around, with the attitude of “these games don’t matter, the worse you play the better it is for the organization.” It’s ‘coach speak’, it’s cliche, but building a culture and a winning attitude has merit, and the 15-8 stretch the Bulls went on earlier this season should help them more than it hurt them. With Dunn out, Lavine playing his way back into game shape, Miroitc gone, and Robin Lopez’s potential exit, the Bulls should lose plenty of games down the stretch and have a real shot at a top 5 pick, if not top 3. This season has been about as win-win as it can get, given the preseason expectations.
Paxson’s comments about spending were equally interesting.
“We’re going to be patient with (spending). We’re not going to start throwing money at players just for the sake of doing that. We look at this as a several-year plan.”
Again, I tend to agree with Paxson here. His comment can come off as an excuse for not wanting to dip in the organization’s checkbook, just dead air excusing the team for losing, but when taking a look at what their plan *should* be, and then looking at this year’s free agent class, the only free agent the Bulls should be spending on is Lavine.
When you look at where the Bulls are as an organization, the only top 5 free agent that would even consider joining them at this point in time would be DeMarcus Cousins. Is spending $150 million on a center that just tore his achilles tendon really the best use of money for this team as it currently stands? Does adding a middling free agent like Tyreke Evans or Clint Capela for $15 million a year speed up the rebuild, without hurting the Bulls flexibility in the future? For the time being, it would be smart for the Bulls to keep that piggy bank intact.
Anyway, Paxson talked, people listened, and we might have even learned something.
