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Mariotti: Paxson needs a big home run

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http://www.suntimes.com/output/mariotti/cst-spt-jay11.html


I'm pleased to know that Jerry Reinsdorf actually cares about the Bulls. For a while there, I wasn't sure, given his relentless assertions that one White Sox championship means more to Chicago than a six-pack of NBA titles. The other day, he stood in U.S. Cellular Field and reiterated his stance, which not only is highly debatable -- only segments of this city are Sox fans, while almost everyone was a Bulls fan -- but seems to downplay the miracle of a certain Michael Jordan.

"Internationally, basketball is bigger than baseball, so the Bulls' championships had bigger impact around the world,'' Reinsdorf said. "In Chicago, this had a much greater impact on fans than the Bulls did.''

Could have fooled me, recalling the madness around here in the '90s. But just when I was giving up on the chairman's interest in his other team, his old friend let us in on a secret. Tony La Russa, in town over the weekend with the St. Louis Cardinals, hung out with Reinsdorf at what was supposed to be a merry basketball game Saturday evening. Then the Bulls went and laid an egg against the Philadelphia 76ers, setting back their hokey little run toward the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"They didn't play a very good game,'' La Russa said, "and he's not a lot of fun to be around when that happens.''
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This is what we've been waiting for since Jerry Krause was thrown in the dumpster: a summer when the Bulls have megabucks to spend while owning the first-round draft choice of the putrid New York Knicks, which very possibly could be the primo pick on lottery night. Mad Pax has done some good deeds in his three years, such as drafting Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Chris Duhon; trading hopeless Eddy Curry for what could be a bounty of talent; and hiring Scott Skiles, who continues to accomplish more with less than any coach in the NBA. Paxson also has done a few dumb things, such as handing $64 million to Tyson Chandler, letting the expensive Tim Thomas rot away and looking woefully out of his element when he played Dr. DNA in the Curry heart case. Considering what he inherited from Krause and how incredibly far he has taken this franchise in a short period, Paxson deserves our trust.


But now he has to deliver. Mediocrity doesn't fly, as evidenced by the complete lack of Bulls buzz all season. If the surge last spring brought back some emotion, an encore of losing has created a realism among fans that NBA no-man's land is no fun -- and could last longer than anyone wants to admit. Rather than celebrating the cheap concept of backing into the playoffs, Paxson has to sell the future and make dramatic moves that will stick for years. Right now, Chicago is a baseball town first, a football town second and a hoops town only when nothing's going on with the Sox, Cubs and Bears, which is rare. Paxson has a chance to create a dazzling new world.
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Mad Pax has lots of money and plenty of options. Not much is on the line here or anything, only the future of pro basketball in Chicago. The Jordan statue still looks proud as ever over on West Madison, but eight years later, it's getting a little lonely.

Remember that shot Paxson hit in '93? This one is almost as vital.
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TomBoerwinkle#1
His suggestions? Land Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal or Paul Pierce. Or draft Aldridge or Noah. Hey, cool. Make any of those things happen.

His first move? Inquire seriously about trading for Kevin Garnett, the superstar this city deserves and just the ticket to return sizzle to a sleepy hoops town. Despite claims by owner Glen Taylor that the Minnesota Timberwolves won't trade him, no one will be shocked if Garnett is shopped this summer. He's making too much noise that he wants out, saying recently: "I don't want to go through this anymore. I'm more deserving of a better team, and the city's more deserving of a better team.'' Few NBA teams are in position to pay a contract that guarantees Garnett $20 million a year through 2009, and few teams have the goods that would interest Minnesota. The Bulls are one exception.

Garnett the go-to guy Bulls need



I'd certainly trade Deng, Chandler and this year's first-round pick for Garnett and whatever is necessary to mix, match and make the trade legal. If the T-wolves balk, I'd consider substituting Gordon. Look, as much as the Bulls hustle and scrap, this remains a team of overachieving role players that has peaked. The reason Reinsdorf and so many people were disappointed Saturday night was because the Bulls had a chance to throw down a hammer -- and whiffed badly.
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The Bulls need a go-to guy, a franchise player to lean on. If not Garnett, that man could be Jermaine O'Neal, who is disenchanted in Indiana as the fading Pacers try to squeeze into the playoffs one spot ahead of the Bulls. "We just will not play defense,'' O'Neal said Sunday. "At this point, we don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.'' Offer a similar package for O'Neal.

Paul Pierce would be a monster pickup, too. But like the others, he has to be on the trade market. If all three remain with their teams, the Bulls could be looking at free agent Al Harrington, the next-best move. Paxson then would draft a big man, perhaps Texas' hot-and-cold LaMarcus Aldridge or Florida whiz Joakim Noah if he changes his mind and turns pro. You can dream about Greg Oden, but it would take a freakily fortunate set of circumstances to land the 7-foot stud in the summer of 2007.
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This summer could very well impact us for the next 4-7 years. We are not going to have this opportunity again (capspace) with Tyson's contract, and extending the rest of the core.

I do not want to get KG if it means gutting our team. I would rather keep the team, and give up a few future 1st rounders, and the NYK pick if it meant getting KG. I would not mind JO, as I used to love him as a player. Lately that has changed. He isn't much of a leader, has been getting injured a lot (been in the league about 10 years?), and I would offer little to get him. However, he is a post presence and is a banger down low.
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Da Grinch made one of the better posts on these boards a few days ago that directly addresses this topic:

Da Grinch said:
why not?
the bulls were a rising team 3 years ago when pax took over.

they were a 30 win team then ...3 years later they are on pace for 37-38 wins ....thats not much progress when you consider he inherited the nba's youngest team or close to it and has had 3 lotto picks plus (up to 5 by next offseason ) and 4 offseasons in which to garner talent .

in the 3 offseasons he has not gotten 1 starter quality player through free agency, he traded j rose jcraw eddy curry 3 starters he inherited and as of now the best player he has for those 3 is mike sweetney, who is not as good as any of them right now.

this team has been pretty healthy and is barely hanging on to a playoff spot, in which they will either not make or be swept by the pistons because they will be overwhelmed inside by the wallaces and mcdyess inside.

i would say he needs to improve this team this offseason significantly or he should be in the hot seat.
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Da Grinch: :cheers:
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DaBullz said:
Da Grinch made one of the better posts on these boards a few days ago that directly addresses this topic:



Da Grinch: :cheers:
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I agree, that this summer will determine if Pax stays or goes. But, I think the reason why they shipped out those players were that did they not fit the mold of the Skiles-Pax regime. I was very happy with the JC and Rose trades. I like the draft pick part of the Eddy Curry deal, but still wonder how we would be if he was here. The way I saw the Bulls last year w/Eddy was that they were a complete team. A team where player's weakness are covered by other teammate's strengths. Each player provided something. Who knows what we will do. Maybe Eddy Curry will turn into the NYK pick that lands us KG? Maybe the draft pick turns into Aldridge who can be the next Bosh or bust.

One thing that I will not like, is we do not go after the big men in FA hard, or he guts the team to land a superstar. We got the money, and we will not have the money for several years. When the clock strikes midnight, Pax better be calling the best big men and better not low-ball them.

This summer determines if we win it all within five years or again, continue being the Bulls since '98 (exception of last year).

I would rather make the lottery every year versus making the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed for several years running.
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So far, it seems to me that Pax has built a team that's inferior to the Warriors and Memphis and is about the same as the Clippers - though the Clippers are doing better than us.

Those three teams have something in common with each other and with us (us to a lesser degree). They are deep, but don't go deep in the playoffs.

All of the POTENTIAL to do better, it seems. But I'm really sick of being told about potential. I want to see it for real on the court.
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DaBullz said:
So far, it seems to me that Pax has built a team that's inferior to the Warriors and Memphis and is about the same as the Clippers - though the Clippers are doing better than us.

Those three teams have something in common with each other and with us (us to a lesser degree). They are deep, but don't go deep in the playoffs.

All of the POTENTIAL to do better, it seems. But I'm really sick of being told about potential. I want to see it for real on the court.
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Then I suggest you watch the New York Titaknicks :clap:
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unBULLievable said:
Then I suggest you watch the New York Titaknicks :clap:
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I'm willing to give the Knicks an offseason and summer camp with their roster and coach before rushing to judgement. Without those things, Pax's first team won 23 games. Whoot whoot.
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DaBullz said:
So far, it seems to me that Pax has built a team that's inferior to the Warriors and Memphis and is about the same as the Clippers - though the Clippers are doing better than us.
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The Warriors are the only team I get to watch regularly, and the Bulls are definitely not inferior to them at the moment. They're terrible. I think it's mainly coaching (LACK of coaching, more accurately), though I think GS gambled that Murphy and Dunleavy would improve, and neither really has. Richardson is a stud - better than anyone we have by a fair amount - but besides him, and maybe Diogu and Pietrus, I don't really like their collection of talent as much as I thought at the beginning of this season (especially since it's becoming apparent that Baron Davis will probably always have injury problems). We may be inferior to them in a "talent on paper" kind of way, but I think we'd beat them 7 out of 10 right now.

If they can dump Monty and get a successful NBA coach, maybe they'll be improved next season. Part of their problem now is that they have no semblance of structure on offense and are clueless as a team on defense. That's on the coach, obviously.

back on the thread topic: I disagree with Grinch's thesis that Pax took over an improving team, but otherwise he raises valid issues. His free agency record is underwhelming at best. But Pax has been angling to make his heist this summer since he made the Rose deal, so I'm willing to give him his chance to make a splash. But much as I hate to give Mariotti props, he's right (I feel dirty just saying that) that this is Pax's crucible. If we take the court next year with a team that's not capable of being a top-4 playoff team in the east right away and duking it out with Miami and Detroit for EC supremacy shortly thereafter, I'll be disappointed.
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ViciousFlogging said:
The Warriors are the only team I get to watch regularly, and the Bulls are definitely not inferior to them at the moment. They're terrible. I think it's mainly coaching (LACK of coaching, more accurately), though I think GS gambled that Murphy and Dunleavy would improve, and neither really has. Richardson is a stud - better than anyone we have by a fair amount - but besides him, and maybe Diogu and Pietrus, I don't really like their collection of talent as much as I thought at the beginning of this season (especially since it's becoming apparent that Baron Davis will probably always have injury problems). We may be inferior to them in a "talent on paper" kind of way, but I think we'd beat them 7 out of 10 right now.

If they can dump Monty and get a successful NBA coach, maybe they'll be improved next season. Part of their problem now is that they have no semblance of structure on offense and are clueless as a team on defense. That's on the coach, obviously.
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I am absolutely talking on paper.

The bulls' backcourt shouldn't be close to the Warriors'. They have two superstars, we have none. Even Derek Fisher at his old age is competitive with our bunch.

We have nobody close to Murphy.

Pietrus and Dunleavy give them two deep and young and high draft picks at SF. A similar situation to our own.

They are challenged at C, but so are we.


(Yikes, their SG rebounds like our starting SF and outrebounds our starting PF)
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DaBullz said:
I am absolutely talking on paper.

The bulls' backcourt shouldn't be close to the Warriors'. They have two superstars, we have none. Even Derek Fisher at his old age is competitive with our bunch.

We have nobody close to Murphy.

Pietrus and Dunleavy give them two deep and young and high draft picks at SF. A similar situation to our own.

They are challenged at C, but so are we.


(Yikes, their SG rebounds like our starting SF and outrebounds our starting PF)
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Davis has missed a ton of games this year, and besides a strong start to the season, has been streaky and ineffective when he has played. Fisher occasionally scores in bunches, but he just isn't that good, IMO. I'd take Duhon over him to be honest.

Murphy puts up some stats, but he does it on low fg% and has trouble operating down low. True, he's better than what we currently have, but he isn't a difference-maker and is sometimes a liability when his shot isn't falling (which is often). He rebounds well - I'll give him that.

Deng and Noc are much more effective night in and night out than Dunleavy and Pietrus, though Mickael doesn't get enough run sometimes. Dunleavy just disappears way too often.


Besides, games aren't won on paper ;)
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since when did "on paper" determine anything? but since the "on paper" thing is the subject isn't 30-46 record for the warrior "on paper"?

chemistry, coaching, cohesiveness all play a part in winning; the bull lost 2/3 of their mojo; chemistry and cohesiveness left by way of curry and davis AND yet the bull still can make the playoff (warriors?.... hmmm?); anything less would be a step backward. if fans can't see that, then i'd hazard they wait to get on the bandwagon when (and if) the team reaches championship status, like so many other "fairweathers"

that's why they play the games folks.
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ViciousFlogging said:
Davis has missed a ton of games this year, and besides a strong start to the season, has been streaky and ineffective when he has played. Fisher occasionally scores in bunches, but he just isn't that good, IMO. I'd take Duhon over him to be honest.

Murphy puts up some stats, but he does it on low fg% and has trouble operating down low. True, he's better than what we currently have, but he isn't a difference-maker and is sometimes a liability when his shot isn't falling (which is often). He rebounds well - I'll give him that.

Deng and Noc are much more effective night in and night out than Dunleavy and Pietrus, though Mickael doesn't get enough run sometimes. Dunleavy just disappears way too often.


Besides, games aren't won on paper ;)
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I think GS is closer to achieving success then the Bulls are. Both teams are similar. Chicago has NYs pick and cap space. GS has a ton of picks over the next few years but not alot of cap space. But the thing is this, GS really is poorly coached. Gulp, take Skiles off the Bulls and put him in GS and that team wins high 40s, maybe 50. GS has the better athletes, and frankly has the best player of either team by a wide margin in Richardson. Plus I think GS has among the leagues deepest tradable assets (Pietrus, Ike, Biedrins, Murphy could get you something). Baron Davis lost the plot after game 25-30. That has something to with Montgomery in my opinion. I think Monty is gone. Itll be interesting to see if Cohan goes with Keith Smart or Mario Elie (as been widely speculated) or if Mullin can orchestrate a bay area reunion with Don Nelson.
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ViciousFlogging said:
Davis has missed a ton of games this year, and besides a strong start to the season, has been streaky and ineffective when he has played. Fisher occasionally scores in bunches, but he just isn't that good, IMO. I'd take Duhon over him to be honest.

Murphy puts up some stats, but he does it on low fg% and has trouble operating down low. True, he's better than what we currently have, but he isn't a difference-maker and is sometimes a liability when his shot isn't falling (which is often). He rebounds well - I'll give him that.

Deng and Noc are much more effective night in and night out than Dunleavy and Pietrus, though Mickael doesn't get enough run sometimes. Dunleavy just disappears way too often.


Besides, games aren't won on paper ;)
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Quibble as we may be doing, here's the rub. Not on paper, but the actual results.

The contenders:
New Jersey 47-29 .618
Detroit 62-15 .805
Miami 50-27 .649
San Antonio 59-18 .766
Dallas 59-19 .756
Phoenix 50-26 .658

I mentioned GS, Memphis, and LAC:
Warriors 30-46 .395
Grizzlies 44-33 .571
Clippers 44-33 .571

And then there's the Bulls:
35-41 .461

With all of the Warrior's injury woes (~25 games missed by Davis is HUGE loss to them), they're just 5 wins worse than us. Seems pretty even to me at this point, all things considered.

The BIG question is what is it going to take to up the Bulls' record from ~35 wins to ~60 to put us in that upper tier of teams that it sure seems the champion will likely come from.

I'm talking a 25 game improvement. 25 games is a lot easier if you only won 15. Or 23 (we improved 24 games last season from 23 to 47 wins).

I'm talking about how do you avoid being trapped with the 2nd tier of teams listed (add Denver, Utah, Washington, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and a few others to that list) where you have no real chance to win it all and you're not getting choice lotto kinds of picks anymore.

The "needs a big home run" is a terrific way to put it. It's needed to gain those 25 wins. It's needed to avoid mediocrity.

And I still go back to Da Grinch's post. After 3 years and a pile of draft picks and talent to trade away (yes, Rose, Crawford, Curry, Marshall, AD's expiring contract, TT's expiring contract), we're here at roughly +5 wins more than we had before Pax took over. That's a REALLY big reason he needs a home run. To prove it was worth it.
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rlucas4257 said:
I think GS is closer to achieving success then the Bulls are. Both teams are similar. Chicago has NYs pick and cap space. GS has a ton of picks over the next few years but not alot of cap space. But the thing is this, GS really is poorly coached. Gulp, take Skiles off the Bulls and put him in GS and that team wins high 40s, maybe 50. GS has the better athletes, and frankly has the best player of either team by a wide margin in Richardson. Plus I think GS has among the leagues deepest tradable assets (Pietrus, Ike, Biedrins, Murphy could get you something). Baron Davis lost the plot after game 25-30. That has something to with Montgomery in my opinion. I think Monty is gone. Itll be interesting to see if Cohan goes with Keith Smart or Mario Elie (as been widely speculated) or if Mullin can orchestrate a bay area reunion with Don Nelson.
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I agree with a lot of this. The players on GS aren't bad per se. They aren't meshing, though. I don't have a high opinion of Murphy - he turns into a volume jump shooter and isn't a very good defender. I think Diogu should start getting his minutes just to see what he can do with a big role. While I certainly think Monty is a bad coach, to some extent I just think the GS roster is flawed as well. They have no identity besides hoping JRich carries them. If Diogu becomes a Brand-type interior player (though obviously not an MVP candidate), suddenly the complexion changes a lot. Then they can go inside-out or vice versa. Right now their offense is just a free for all.

I think the Bulls are in a much better spot right now with their combination of cap room and 2 picks this year and a likely lottery pick next year as well. But if the Bulls don't vastly improve after this summer, who knows. GS is stuck with some pretty bad contracts, so I don't see how they get better unless another BD-type of firesale trade falls into their laps.
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DaBullz said:
Quibble as we may be doing, here's the rub. Not on paper, but the actual results.


Warriors 30-46 .395

And then there's the Bulls:
35-41 .461

With all of the Warrior's injury woes (~25 games missed by Davis is HUGE loss to them), they're just 5 wins worse than us. Seems pretty even to me at this point, all things considered.
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To be fair, I was only comparing us to the Warriors, not the other teams you mentioned. And the actual results state in plain English that we're better than they are.

Yeah, not having Davis hurts, but that's one of the things you sign up for when you bring Baron Davis in. He's missed tons of games the last few years. Plus, they were pretty much in a tailspin even when he was in the lineup after their nice start.

The rest of your post is quite good. You're right that it needs to be a great summer. We disagree on the minutiae, but that's pretty much the norm, eh?
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DaBullz said:
Da Grinch made one of the better posts on these boards a few days ago that directly addresses this topic:



Da Grinch: :cheers:
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As usual, Da Grinch isn't quite accurate in his assesment... John Paxson took over the reins of the Bulls in April of 2003. So, he's had three summers - summer of '03, summer of '04 and the summer of '05 (not the 4 that the Grinch claims - this summer will be his fourth not his fifth that Grinch claims). The '02-'03 Bulls finished 30-52, which happened to be the best finish of the prior six seasons under Krause. The '03-'04 Bulls (pax's first year) finished 23-59. They took a step back. The '04-'05 Bulls finished 47-35 (Pax's second year) and the '05-'06 Bulls will finish somewhere around 38-44 (Pax's third year - give or take a game or two). Granted, Pax really hasn't had great free-agency success, but he also hasn't had much to work with. MLE every year and only half the MLE last season (Duhon). The last two off-seasons he's traded away the leading scorer on the team (Craw and Curry) and gotten very little in return (harrington, sweetney and cap space in '06). The return on those trades should be realised this summer (cap space for Crawford and the Knicks first). His drafts have been very solid if unspectacular. Signing Nocioni was a damn good FA pickup if you ask me - I don't even want to think of what our record would be without him this year.

This summer, his FOURTH, will really be what Pax uses to put his imprint on this team. Much like Krauses' drafting of Curry, Chandler and Crawford put his mark on the team. We'll just have to see what he does, but I believe that the makup of this team come October, 2006 will be quite a bit different than the current team.
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sorry to bust mariotti's et al bubble, but does ANYBODY actually believe there's a player (including KG) who'll be the catalyst for a 25 win improvement? an eye-opening turnaround would be 50 wins (a +12 turnaround if the bull finish 38-44), which KG might help achieve, barring giving away important pieces (who that is is debateable). also, just for debate sake, IF the bull pull off a major trade (KG or O'Neal) and don't remove too many from the first 6-7, AND finish with 47 wins again, will that be considered a failure? where will blame go then?

building championships just doesn't happen that way. anyone who can recall the incremental progress of the dynasty will recall the progress of getting swept by the piston, acquiring high picks (pip, grant, king, armstrong), and gradually moving jackson in as coach. that took 6+ years (from jordan's arrival), did it not?

further, post dynasty, "crumbs" krause had 5-6 years before he was shown the door; now paxson, who's improved every aspect of the team since he took over is under the gun to "hit a home run" after 3?

sorry to bust another bubble but, reinsdorf doesn't work that way either.
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fl_flash said:
As usual, Da Grinch isn't quite accurate in his assesment... John Paxson took over the reins of the Bulls in April of 2003. So, he's had three summers - summer of '03, summer of '04 and the summer of '05 (not the 4 that the Grinch claims - this summer will be his fourth not his fifth that Grinch claims).
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OK, one of us is confused.

DaGrinch said:
why not?
the bulls were a rising team 3 years ago when pax took over.

they were a 30 win team then ...3 years later they are on pace for 37-38 wins ....thats not much progress when you consider he inherited the nba's youngest team or close to it and has had 3 lotto picks plus (up to 5 by next offseason ) and 4 offseasons in which to garner talent .

in the 3 offseasons he has not gotten 1 starter quality player through free agency, he traded j rose jcraw eddy curry 3 starters he inherited and as of now the best player he has for those 3 is mike sweetney, who is not as good as any of them right now.
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The '02-'03 Bulls finished 30-52, which happened to be the best finish of the prior six seasons under Krause. The '03-'04 Bulls (pax's first year) finished 23-59. They took a step back. The '04-'05 Bulls finished 47-35 (Pax's second year) and the '05-'06 Bulls will finish somewhere around 38-44 (Pax's third year - give or take a game or two). Granted, Pax really hasn't had great free-agency success, but he also hasn't had much to work with. MLE every year and only half the MLE last season (Duhon). The last two off-seasons he's traded away the leading scorer on the team (Craw and Curry) and gotten very little in return (harrington, sweetney and cap space in '06). The return on those trades should be realised this summer (cap space for Crawford and the Knicks first). His drafts have been very solid if unspectacular. Signing Nocioni was a damn good FA pickup if you ask me - I don't even want to think of what our record would be without him this year.

This summer, his FOURTH, will really be what Pax uses to put his imprint on this team. Much like Krauses' drafting of Curry, Chandler and Crawford put his mark on the team. We'll just have to see what he does, but I believe that the makup of this team come October, 2006 will be quite a bit different than the current team.
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His post in it's entirety

DaGrinch said:
why not?
the bulls were a rising team 3 years ago when pax took over.

they were a 30 win team then ...3 years later they are on pace for 37-38 wins ....thats not much progress when you consider he inherited the nba's youngest team or close to it and has had 3 lotto picks plus (up to 5 by next offseason ) and 4 offseasons in which to garner talent .

in the 3 offseasons he has not gotten 1 starter quality player through free agency, he traded j rose jcraw eddy curry 3 starters he inherited and as of now the best player he has for those 3 is mike sweetney, who is not as good as any of them right now.

this team has been pretty healthy and is barely hanging on to a playoff spot, in which they will either not make or be swept by the pistons because they will be overwhelmed inside by the wallaces and mcdyess inside.

i would say he needs to improve this team this offseason significantly or he should be in the hot seat.
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ViciousFlogging said:
I agree with a lot of this. The players on GS aren't bad per se. They aren't meshing, though. I don't have a high opinion of Murphy - he turns into a volume jump shooter and isn't a very good defender. I think Diogu should start getting his minutes just to see what he can do with a big role. While I certainly think Monty is a bad coach, to some extent I just think the GS roster is flawed as well. They have no identity besides hoping JRich carries them. If Diogu becomes a Brand-type interior player (though obviously not an MVP candidate), suddenly the complexion changes a lot. Then they can go inside-out or vice versa. Right now their offense is just a free for all.

I think the Bulls are in a much better spot right now with their combination of cap room and 2 picks this year and a likely lottery pick next year as well. But if the Bulls don't vastly improve after this summer, who knows. GS is stuck with some pretty bad contracts, so I don't see how they get better unless another BD-type of firesale trade falls into their laps.
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Good post.

The one thing that I think that seperates them from the Bulls is that Mully actually has cahones. He isnt scared to put his neck on the line. They fleeced NO in a deal that Pax would never have made to get Davis, no matter what anyone thinks of Davis. They came this () close to getting Ron Artest in a deal Pax would have been to scared to do. Ultimately, the talent is a little better in GS, the coaching better in Chicago. GS has tons of picks (5 over the next 3 years including Phillys I believe) and terrible cap space. Chi has picks over the next 2 years from the Curry deal. If GS can fix its coaching situation, which is really easy compared to filling out a roster, I think not only are they the better team but it isnt particularly close, unless Pax does very well this summer. And even then, I think Mullys lack of fear in acquiring players gives them the edge, inspite of the really bad contracts they have. And they seem to have players they could trade who have value in the league and are open to dealing anyone. Would Pax deal Hinrich? I dont think so. Would Mully deal Jrich? Yes if it made GS better. Thats the difference.
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