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There is a false narrative that the Reinsdorfs don’t spend on the front office, and multiple sources have said that was not the case in the Arturas Karnisovas regime at all. Karnisovas got every hire he wanted with no pushback on money. The problem? The former front office of John Paxson and Gar Forman was old school and worked for many years as a mostly two-man operation. The league just outgrew that mentality. When Karnisovas took over more than six years ago, he did build out the front office without constraints, but it never caught up to what the rest of the Association was doing. Graham will change that. “We’ve been playing checkers and now it’s time to play chess,” a source said.
Joe Cowley: Some tidbits from the hiring of Bryson Graham. Pax wanted to excuse himself from the Matt Lloyd interview because of their relationship. ... Dave Lewin put on quite a show and was impressive ... table that ... Graham could still opt to go with untraditional front office look.
As of last week, his list of candidates to replace Arturas Karnisovas was down to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd; Bryson Graham, the Hawks’ vice president of basketball operation; Pistons vice president Dennis Lindsey; and Celtics assistant GM Dave Lewin. All four are considered not only process-oriented but good at communicating their plans to ownership, fans and media. A source told the Sun-Times that although there was no clear-cut favorite for the job as of last Monday, Lloyd has taken the lead and could be named to the position in the next several days. That makes sense considering his long stint with the Bulls under former basketball operations chief John Paxson, who remains with the organization as an adviser and is said to be a strong Lloyd supporter.
League sources say that former Bulls lead executive John Paxson, still an advisor to ownership, has been asked by Bulls CEO Michael Reinsdorf to take an active role in the search process for a successor to Artūras Karnišovas. And Paxson is naturally viewed as a strong Lloyd advocate after they worked together during Paxson's reign in charge in Chicago.
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K.C. Johnson: Bulls will run extensive search, with CEO Michael Reinsdorf expected to address reporters at some point Tuesday. Reinsdorf, senior advisor John Paxson and Brian Hagen, Pat Connelly and JJ Polk will work collectively at top of basketball opps during search
Shaquille O'Neal: "I get annoyed when people cherry-pick moments in a player's career. Who took the winning shot in Game 7 in 2016? Kyrie Irving. Who hit the game-winner in 1993? John Paxson. Who hit the game-winner last night for Denver? Jamal Murray. That's the sport of basketball—sometimes it's your time, sometimes it's your teammates'."
"Always. Always," Rose said when asked if he was surprised by the reception. "You never know how important, or just the way that we played back then, how it affected people. To come here and see all the love and receive all the love that we got, it was unreal. "That's why I've never talked ill on the franchise or the people from the franchise. When I was here, it was nothing but love. I saw (former Bulls general manager) Pax (John Paxson) before the game, I ain't get a chance to see (Bulls President and CEO) Michael (Reinsdorf). But the way their family showed so much love to me, and Pax, the way he was honest the whole time I was here. It was all I asked for."
If you followed Boylen’s tumultuous, two-year tenure as the Bulls’ head coach at all, so much of this sounds familiar, from the cheesy motivation tactics, all the way to pushing his players far beyond their comfort zones. But there is one key difference now that he’s coaching Team USA. Those same tactics seem to be working. “I’m very direct, I think you see that,” Boylen told me last week, as we sat in the bleachers at the Washington Wizards’ practice facility, where Team USA worked out. “I was very direct in Chicago. I coached that Chicago team how John Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf wanted it coached.”
“I’m very direct, I think you see that,” Boylen told me last week, as we sat in the bleachers at the Washington Wizards’ practice facility, where Team USA worked out. “I was very direct in Chicago. I coached that Chicago team how John Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf wanted it coached.” Boylen is the coach of Team USA, but not the Team USA that plays in the 2023 World Cup, or the 2024 Paris Olympics. That’s Steve Kerr’s job. Boylen is coaching the Team USA that is trying to win enough games to qualify for the World Cup. He has a roster full of G Leaguers, instead of NBA All-Stars, and the games are spaced months apart. The new job is going well for Boylen, who has collected three wins against one defeat so far.
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The Sun-Times reported in April of 2020 that the old regime had scouts heavily examining Jones as an addition to the roster. Even when that old regime was broken apart, John Paxson was still retained as an advisor and the scouting notes they had on Jones stayed in house. Not only was the 6-foot-5 Jones being coveted for his defense, but having another former Slam Dunk Contest winner to take to the same airways as Zach LaVine is never a bad thing for a team that wants to get out and push the ball in transition.
Nearly 28 years have passed since former Phoenix Suns guard Dan Majerle first felt the anguish over losing to the Chicago Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals. The hurt still lingers. So much so that Majerle admitted he still reflects on former Chicago Bulls guard John Paxson making a game-winning 3-pointer in a decisive Game 6 at least once a week. “I think about it a lot,” Majerle told USA TODAY Sports. “They show it a lot. But I do think about it a lot.”
KC Johnson: Joakim Noah is at Bulls-Jazz, sitting with John Paxson and Michael Reinsdorf in the owner’s suite. Noah, who has plans to sign a one-day deal to retire as a Bull, is in town for several reasons, including planning talks for his foundation @NoahsArcFdn
And in some sense, the fact the Bulls are drawing from executives who have varying backgrounds working for different franchises could help them. Each will bring different perspectives and predraft protocols to the table. The fact Karnišovas and Eversley are using holdovers like Brian Hagen and Steve Weinman also gives some of the previous regime's flavor. That regime had more draft hits than misses. I've heard Karnišovas has valued his relationship with senior adviser John Paxson, who ceded complete autonomy but is willing to assist the new regime whenever they ask him for any input.