Bulls Fans Will Need to Take a Deep Breath After This Front Office Search Update

First of all, let's not forget that John Paxson has been a member of the Chicago Bulls' organization this whole time. While he may have moved on from his role as executive vice president of basketball operations in 2020, the franchise figure immediately stepped into a senior advisor role. How extensively the team has used his expertise over the last handful of years is unknown, but it's clear that the Reinsdorf family still values his insight deeply.

Nevertheless, if the idea is to start fresh, should a former lead basketball executive really be this involved in the hiring process? More importantly, one who was removed from his position because of his own long-term struggles to build a competitive team? It certainly feels like a fair question and concern!

At the same time, it's unclear if Michael Reinsdorf can be trusted to make the call on his own. The more glass-half-full approach is recognizing that Paxson does at least know what it takes to do the job adequately. Even if his tenure as the man in charge didn't bring overwhelming success, he certainly had better years than Karnisovas and got to see plenty of other front offices do it right.

This entire process is about vetting the right candidates and asking the right questions. Paxson is going to know how to do that better than Reinsdorf. With that said, decision-making has ultimately been the root of all problems for the Bulls. This all comes down to choosing the right person to do the job, and it's hard not to feel queasy about having either Reinsdorf or Paxson making the final call.

At the end of the day, I guess all that really matters is that something new is coming to the front office. If franchises like the Knicks and Pistons can finally dig themselves out of a hole after several hiring flops, the Bulls can too. And, hey, at least Gar Forman isn't sitting in on the interviews!

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on X for the latest news