Paxson "Did Not Participate" in First New Front Office Interview and Other Bulls Bullets

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Paxson “Did Not Participate” in First New Front Office Interview and Other Bulls Bullets

Chicago Bulls

We have 70+ degree temperatures in the Chicagoland area today, so if you need me, I’ll be laying in the backyard in sweatpants instead of on my couch. (Michael: Sweatpants?! In this heat?!).

  • Since everyone continues to freak out about John Paxson likely holding a place somewhere in the Chicago Bulls organization after the front office dust settles, here’s something to ease your mind: “The source close to the situation said Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson did not participate in the Justin Zanik interview and has moved to the background by choice,” wrote Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times.
  • The plan was seemingly already in place for Paxson to take a backseat once the new guy arrived, but it could be happening even sooner than that. Indeed, we haven’t yet heard any involvement he’s had in the hiring process or new front office reconstruction, and he’s not even participating in the interviews. If he were going to be in some sort of oversight-y role, he likely would have been involved.
  • NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson has also made this point clear in just about all of his reports so far, reiterating it during the latest Bulls Talk Podcast.

  • Now, I still completely understand why some are taking issue. Fans don’t want Paxson to be anywhere near the new regime, but more importantly, they don’t even want him on the payroll. I doubt Paxson could help park cars at the United Center, without rubbing a segment of the fanbase the wrong way. Unfortunately, that’s something we’ll just have to get over. Paxson is (likely) sticking around, even if we’ll no longer have to deal with him directly. According to all reports, he isn’t going to be making decisions and will not be touching basketball operations in any direct way. That’s good enough. Or, well, it’ll have to be.
  • Meanwhile, it appears the Bulls plan to hire Paxson’s replacement ASAP. Johnson also said during the Bulls Talk Podcast that he would be surprised if the new hire was made sometime this or next week.

  • A little while ago LaVine donated 12,500 meals to his hometown Seattle community, and later said he was working on ways to help out in the city of Chicago. Well, he found a great way to do just that! The Bulls may upset us – like, all the time – but the organization has done a nice job trying to help the community during this troubling time. Bigger than sports.
  • Okay, back to the Bulls filling us with rage. Remember when this was the roster?

  • Big news yesterday on what the NBA Draft process is going to look like. With social distancing practices still of the utmost importance, organizations will have to hold virtual meetings with 2020 prospects. I think we all expected something like this to happen, but now it’s official. Also, I’ve written about how complicated this whole process is about to be before, so if you’re interested, I’ll link that here.

  • If you’ve waited all your life to ask Archie a question, you now have that opportunity.

Filed to: Chicago Bulls
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Author: Elias Schuster

Elias Schuster is a writer for Bleacher Nation and a human being. You can follow him on Twitter @Schuster_Elias.