Content with roster, Bulls stand pat at trade deadline

[insidehoops]

Their lack of movement shouldn't come as a surprise after Bulls executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman said last week they did not expect to make a trade.

The organization is happy with the way the team has righted itself after losing Derrick Rose to another season-ending knee injury and trading forward Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers in early January.

Veterans Mike Dunleavy and Kirk Hinrich were the names many focused on during trade speculation, but neither ever felt as if they would be leaving Chicago. Forman and Paxson never gave the feeling that any deal was particularly close.

-- ESPN Chicago

[Upgrayedd]

This front office is a complete joke.

Once Rose went down I thought they'd tank this season. But after not tanking and playing pretty damn good this season I thought they'd try and improve the team at the deadline. But nope... they'll keep the same team. :facepalm

I don't know why I keep thinking they'll do something smart this summer and sign/trade for another superstar. Instead they'll probably do something stupid like trade Noah.

Paxson/Forman are jokes.

[Go Getter]

The only joke is your ****ing sorry ass posting. :facepalm

[Undisputed]

Upgrayedd, no reason to pull a trade that doesn't make the team better. There weren't many deals out there worth pursuing during this trade deadline circus, obviously.

Nothing is happening with this team until next season. I thought that much was clear.

[Go Getter]

Upgrayedd, no reason to pull a trade that doesn't make the team better. There weren't many deals out there worth pursuing during this trade deadline circus, obviously.

Nothing is happening with this team until next season. I thought that much was clear.


Why bother explaining what should be plain as day to any Bull's fan with a 10th grade education? Dude is a lost cause man (post-wise).

[Go Getter]

And I don't think the F/O is "content with roster" like the title suggests. They are in a position to make some moves but you gotta give them some time.

[Rose]

Surprised Dunleavy stayed, thought for sure Houston would pull a Donuts-Dunleavy trade.

[Crystallas]

fan with a 10th grade education


Wow, you complimented him.

[Upgrayedd]

The only joke is your ****ing sorry ass posting. :facepalm

Really, are you John Paxson or Gar Forman? I've never seen a fan kiss so much ass before. It's absolutely pathetic. The front office and this organization has been run like a complete joke for many many years.

[Upgrayedd]

Upgrayedd, no reason to pull a trade that doesn't make the team better. There weren't many deals out there worth pursuing during this trade deadline circus, obviously.

Nothing is happening with this team until next season. I thought that much was clear.

With this team, I doubt much will happen this summer either.

Look at last summer... let Belinelli sign with the Spurs. That guy should have been a keeper. Get rid of Nate Robinson even though he carried the Bulls at times.

Watch this summer they won't amnesty Boozer, they won't go after a big free agent or try and make a trade for a legit superstar. It will be same f*cking team.

Paxson/Forman are two of the worst GM's in the league.

And there was a good deal out there. There was the rumored Hinrich for Harrison Barnes/Jordan Crawford. Gives the Bulls a nice 3 and some decent offense coming off the bench. Noah/Taj/Butler/Augustin/Barnes could have made some noise in the playoffs.

[Undisputed]

Why bother explaining what should be plain as day to any Bull's fan with a 10th grade education? Dude is a lost cause man (post-wise).
I humor everyone. Mostly because I've seen certain posters come through here that made a really bad first impression and slowly matured into quality posters. Upgrayedd has potential from what I've seen...but then again, I haven't been around to see everything recently as you guys probably have, considering the hostility. hahah.


Paxson/Forman are two of the worst GM's in the league.

Trust me, there are much worse GMs out there. Do you not see the yearly bottom feeders? If anything, Gar and Pax have done everything they are capable of doing so that we don't have to watch the Bulls suck every season. These guys are playing their cards beautifully. Give it time. When misfortune happens(your star player having two major knee surgeries), it takes time to come back from that. They are positioning this team to make big waves in the near future when Rose is back in full swing(god willing). Whether it's accomplished or not depends on the opportunities that present themselves. The FO will pull the trigger on deals that make this squad better. Make no mistake.

[pegasus]

I'd sign Big Baby and Granger but I'm sure they'll have better offer. I really like the way the team has been playing despite everything and with a little bit of roster boost we could hurt someone in the second round.

[Upgrayedd]

Trust me, there are much worse GMs out there. Do you not see the yearly bottom feeders? If anything, Gar and Pax have done everything they are capable of doing so that we don't have to watch the Bulls suck every season. These guys are playing their cards beautifully. Give it time. When misfortune happens(your star player having two major knee surgeries), it takes time to come back from that. They are positioning this team to make big waves in the near future when Rose is back in full swing(god willing). Whether it's accomplished or not depends on the opportunities that present themselves. The FO will pull the trigger on deals that make this squad better. Make no mistake.

It just seems like they're afraid to take that next step. They've built teams before that could have truly been contenders if they would have made some better moves. After the whole 2007/2008 season disaster when the team gave up on Skiles and then Skiles was fired, Wallace was traded, they got the first pick in the draft in 2008 so everyone was willing to forget about that whole disaster.

It looked like they were serious again especially in the 2011 season when they had such a stacked team. They have the best record in the league, make it to the ECF. The only thing that team desperately needed was a 2 guard, because Keith Bogans was not a star. So who do they get? Instead of trying to get someone really good that would make the Bulls legit contenders, they go out and get Rip Hamilton. Seriously? Then Rose goes down in the playoffs that season they break up the bench in the offseason. But I won't complain too much since they did get Hinrich, Belinelli and Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler stepped up big and last season was fun to watch even without Rose.

But then last summer, they let Nate Robinson go, they let Belinelli go. They sign Mike Dunleavy??? Seriously? Everyone knows at this point the Bulls need a second superstar. The Bulls just keep failing to deliver that star. D-Rose, even when completely healthy can't lead the team by himself. They're still afraid to go out and sign/trade for that second superstar player to team with Rose.

What has Paxson really done? He builds playoff teams that can only get so far and then the whole thing falls apart before they can get to that next level. We saw that with the Skiles era and we're seeing it now with the Rose/Thibs era.

[ljsbb27]

Building a team who consistently makes the playoffs year after year like we do is an accomplishment itself and speaks of a job done pretty well. There are plenty of teams that never or barely ever make the playoffs at all.
I have some criticism of the duo of Gar and Pax, but for the most part they have done a good job and are certainly better than most around the league.
They do an exceptional job of drafting which they've proved many times. They hired Thibs who's proven to be a premier coach in the league. They've done a great job of bringing in role players who fit in nicely and come at affordable prices. They've also managed the cap very well and besides Boozer we don't have any horrible overpriced contracts. They've created cap flexibility whenever needed and they've also done well in accumulating draft picks.

Even my criticisms are somewhat reserved because some can possibly not even be their fault. There have been some players that we should have re-signed and kept, but we let them walk because they went elsewhere for some more money, but maybe they didn't have the authority from ownership to spend that money. Most of us fans biggest criticism is that we haven't been able to bring in another star. We've tried a few times to bring in another star, but they just ended up picking another team. Injuries have played a huge part in this team not meeting it's full potential and those are uncontrollable and no one's fault.

Sure we want that other star and sure we as fans want championships but we still need to realize that we still have a better team, roster, front office, franchise, organization, etc than most.

Hopefully this offseason brings in some new surprises, but for now I'm enjoying this team play their heart out night in and night out.

Enjoyed seeing Snell play really well while getting some advice from Rose.

[Upgrayedd]

It is good to at least make the playoffs but now I want to see them actually win something. Even making it to the finals would be an accomplishment. The Bulls have only been back to the Conference Finals just once since 1998. That's sad.

After a while just making it to the playoffs gets old. I want to see them win and they've had chances but always seem afraid to take that next step.

I was very impressed with Snell last night. I hope he has more games like that this season. I want to see him improve and Butler continue to improve.

This team has so much potential. I just want them to finally take that next step.

[(e)]

Upgrayedd, do you have any knowledge of the CBA or how the salary cap works?

After Chicago dealt Deng to save money, it was pretty clear there wasn't going to be another move to make the team better. The FO has put the team in a flexible position, looking forward to this offseason.

It's clear that this team won't win a Championship without their franchise player, so what exactly did you expect Chicago to do? Trade an expiring contract for multiple year contracts? That's an absolutely terrible idea. The Bulls had just moved Deng to save money, why would they make another move to spend more money?

[Upgrayedd]

I just really liked the Hinrich for Harrison Barnes trade that was rumored.

And like I said earlier, either tank and try and get a good pick in the draft or if you're going to play well and really try and make the playoffs like the Bulls seem to be doing then do something to improve the team this season and see how far you can go in the playoffs this season.

[kshutts1]

I get the sense from scanning through posts that many people are (partially) blinded by recent events, and their own optimism.

I LOVE how the Bulls have been playing lately, but I"m REALISTIC in recognizing that they will not win a title this year, and likely not next. Changes need to be made. The FO is too... content?... to be competitive, rather than risking competitiveness to shoot for greatness (with the obvious caveat that failing means being terrible).

Look, the league is set up where it is easy to be mediocre-to-good, but very, very hard to be great. Risks need to be taken, gambles need to pay off. But if you are unwilling to risk, or gamble, then you won't be great. This FO is too risk-averse.

I'd let them run my portfolio, but I'd rather they not run my team.

[tamaraw08]

I get the sense from scanning through posts that many people are (partially) blinded by recent events, and their own optimism.

I LOVE how the Bulls have been playing lately, but I"m REALISTIC in recognizing that they will not win a title this year, and likely not next. Changes need to be made. The FO is too... content?... to be competitive, rather than risking competitiveness to shoot for greatness (with the obvious caveat that failing means being terrible).

Look, the league is set up where it is easy to be mediocre-to-good, but very, very hard to be great. Risks need to be taken, gambles need to pay off. But if you are unwilling to risk, or gamble, then you won't be great. This FO is too risk-averse.

I'd let them run my portfolio, but I'd rather they not run my team.

You made some valid points and I am very eager to know from you, the specifics on the risks that they should make.:confusedshrug:
Trade Rose, Noah etc? to get who?
The team's lineup looked pretty good before the season started, eventhough I felt they should have kept Marco and Nate.
ANY team would surely fail to win it all if their top superstar goes down for the season.

[Upgrayedd]

The risks they need to take is going after that second superstar to team up with Rose. Even if it means trading away Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson and using the amnesty to get rid of Boozer. The only two must keep players on this team are Rose and Noah. No one else should be off limits in a trade involving someone like a Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony.