What about Mike Wilhelm? Wasn't he with him at Iowa State

Wasn't he on the Thibs staff? (Cue Brian Hanley.)

Big oops Charlie Henry

Walt, growing up were you a John Mengelt or Bobby Weiss guy?

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.

He has his flaws but he has been a better GM than that. He drafted Butler. He picked Rose when people were split 50/50 Rose/Beasley. Noah was considered a reach that worked and so was Deng. He bombed with Aldridge and Wallace. Ben Gordon was a good pick too and so was Hinrich.


He needs to go because I think his time has passed. I don't know if he is interested in the job at this point.

Why is drafting Butler considered a Pax move rather than a Gar move? This is the thing that bugs me. Everything bad from the GarPax era gets blamed on Gar and anything good is attributed to Paxson.

If Paxson really had such a different vision for this team than what Gar and the Reinsdorfs want, then why exactly was he the guy doing most of the talking at the end of last season and why was he the one doing the all-star break press conference solo this season? Wasn't one of the main reasons cited for Gar taking over the GM role in the first was that Paxson didn't want to deal with the media? Why exactly then, if he has such a superior vision for the Bulls, has he been the one addressing the media far more for moves he supposedly disagrees with?

Why is drafting Butler considered a Pax move rather than a Gar move? This is the thing that bugs me. Everything bad from the GarPax era gets blamed on Gar and anything good is attributed to Paxson.

If Paxson really had such a different vision for this team than what Gar and the Reinsdorfs want, then why exactly was he the guy doing most of the talking at the end of last season and why was he the one doing the all-star break press conference solo this season? Wasn't one of the main reasons cited for Gar taking over the GM role in the first was that Paxson didn't want to deal with the media? Why exactly then, if he has such a superior vision for the Bulls, has he been the one addressing the media far more for moves he supposedly disagrees with?

. He also hired Thibs which has to be considered a good move.

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.

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?

Bobby Weiss stealing the in bounds pass and working the back door with Boerwinkle