Shepkowski: Bulls' Front Office Must Be Held Accountable
By Nick Shepkowski--
(CBS) With Thursday night's embarrassing blowout loss to the Cavaliers, the Bulls' season and championship aspirations officially closed.
In the coming days or weeks, we're almost sure to see coach Tom Thibodeau shipped out of town either by trade or by firing, but with that change, don't expect anything to get better for the Bulls. That's because executives John Paxson and Gar Forman will still be sitting atop their perch, not having to answer to anyone while keeping their cush jobs.
Thibodeau will be on his way to New Orleans (or Orlando or Cleveland or somewhere else) soon, and Bulls fans need to know that nothing's going to get better by making another coaching change when Tweedledee and Tweedledum are still in charge. Paxson went from sitting behind a microphone to the Bulls front office in April 2003 when he became general manager. Eventually Gar Forman would become the Bulls general manager by title in 2009, but it's well-known how the two work hand in hand.
They assembled a coaching staff and team that won a whopping one playoff series in the six years previous to Thibodeau's arrival. The Forman-Paxson duo hired Vinny Del Negro, who ranked amongst the biggest laughingstocks in the entire NBA. They're also responsible for drafting LaMarcus Aldridge and insisting on trading his rights to Portland so they could instead get Tyrus Thomas.
Whoops.
In what is a superstar league, the only true superstar the two ever put in a Bulls uniform is Derrick Rose, who they were handed because out of pure luck in the 2008 lottery.
Time and time again, the Bulls have been in on superstar free agents like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and countless others. And the Bulls have wound up with Ben Wallace, Carlos Boozer and a 34-year-old Pau Gasol as their big-time free agents.
Congratulations on that. Good job, good effort.
"Nobody wants to play in Chicago!" is the argument you always hear. "You can't make stars come play here!"
True, but what about what the Rockets have done in recent year? Do that many players want to go live in Houston? Or is their rise because a competent basketball mind in Daryl Morey is there and found ways to acquire the likes of James Harden and Dwight Howard while somehow getting production out of Josh Smith.
It very well could be time to go for Thibodeau, and Thursday night seemed to reflect that. But don't get confused. It wouldn't matter if Red Auerbach came back from the dead to replace Thibodeau and lit a cigar on the Bulls bench. This team won't reach its ultimate goal under Paxson and Forman.
They haven't before. They won't now. They won't ever.
The Bulls' front office is one that's always looking for a scapegoat, but a dozen years after John Paxson started making basketball decisions, the only constant in his time has been disappointment.
Nick Shepkowski is a weekend host at 670 The Score and produces The Spiegel and Goff Show each weekday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. You can find all of his work here and follow him on Twitter @Shep670.
