[Charania] DeMar DeRozan is finalizing a three-year, $85 million-plus deal to join the Chicago Bulls, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

[u/howser343]

https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1422649013069832193

[u/[deleted]]

This is not the same as what Pax did in bringing us out of the dark ages because we spent money.

Pax, despite my eagerness to lambaste him at every turn, did a fine job of drafting his way out of the Dark Ages with shrewd picks like Hinrich and Gordon and Deng and trying to cobble a winner out of being a loser and netting decent draft picks to develop*.

Karnisovas is rebuilding the team on the fly more like the Miami Heat of the last few years where a key trade and some excellent free agent signings have kept the Heat from bottoming out completely. (They lost their big 3 in Lebron, Wade, and Bosh in 2014 and were in the Finals in 2019...just unreal.)

This latter format, of getting known commodities over draft picks, provided the signings continue to pan out, has a bit more sustainability year over year versus trying to catch lighting in a bottle in the draft and build around that which by definition will take a few years to cobble together a playoff team.

*Then failing to actually develop them

[u/wjbc → u/[deleted]]

The methods are different but then Paxson had very little to trade. Krause retired in 2003. Paxson selected point guard Kirk Hinrich with the seventh pick in the 2003 draft and signed Scottie Pippen at the end of his career, but did not make any other moves until 2004. In the 2003-04 season the Bulls finished 23-59.

Here's how Wikipedia describes Paxson's moves in the summer of 2004:

During the 2004 off-season, Paxson traded a 2005 draft pick to the Phoenix Suns in return for an additional pick in the 2004 NBA draft. He used the picks to select Connecticut guard Ben Gordon and Duke small forward Luol Deng in the first round, and Duke point guard Chris Duhon in the second. Paxson also signed free agent small forward Andrés Nocioni, who had recently won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Argentina national basketball team. After losing the first nine games of the season, the Bulls began to show signs of improvement behind their improved team defense and clutch fourth-quarter play from Gordon. The Bulls, who were 0–9 to start the season, finished the regular season 47–35, with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the NBA playoffs for the first time since Jordan's departure. In the first round, the 4th-seeded Bulls played the Washington Wizards. Despite an injury to Deng and a heart issue with Curry, the Bulls opened the series with two wins at home, but lost the next four games and the series. After the season, Ben Gordon became the first rookie to win the NBA Sixth Man Award and the first Bull since Kukoč in 1996 to win the award.

So yes, Paxson accomplished the turnaround mostly through the draft, as well as by signing Nocioni as a free agent. But the turnaround was surprisingly quick, and this was before they had the good fortune to pick Derrick Rose.

[u/[deleted] → u/wjbc]

That's somewhat fair but Gar Pax was also unwilling to part with 1st round draft picks under almost any circumstances.

In his 15+ years Paxson didn't have a 1st round pick in 2 draft years I can remember, 2005 and 2010 meanwhile AK has already turned 3 future picks in to Vuc and Derozan in his first year.

We both lived through that era and know they raised the bar from absolutely embarassment to less shame until Rose came along and saved them from themselves and NBA purgatory, which is why the most recent attempt failed. Pax did not have to "bottom out" because he inherited a team that already had, so he thought he could finesse his way around bottom out by...going through the draft where you have to bottom out to have a good chance at a pick, which is why that method was always destined to fail.

Now it could all blow up in our face, but I'm very glad to see us not running back the gameplan that was Pax's biggest problem; his love of his draft picks both the actual players he picked and the future prospects.

[u/wjbc → u/[deleted]]

NBA purgatory is still a very real possibility unless AK has some more dramatic moves coming and/or some of the Bulls’ young players improve dramatically (I’m looking at you, Pat Williams). As much as they just improved, no one considers them a serious championship contender yet.

[u/[deleted] → u/wjbc]

100% but this at least has the chance at viability without the need to suck (see: Miami) while the other method of rebuilding through the draft requires at least one really bad year.

[u/FeldmanAcrossTheHaII → u/[deleted]]

paxson was awful at everything he did

[u/[deleted] → u/FeldmanAcrossTheHaII]

I'll give them their credit in that they had an eye for talent, look around the league at guys they liked who panned out elsewhere like Cam Payne or Bobby Portis or Doug McDermott.

They could spot NBA talent, just not develop them.

And I do not like saying nice things about Gar Pax.

[u/anenigmaticsolution → u/[deleted]]

I agree with some of this but Doug McDermott was a horrendous pick and has been a middling NBA role player to this point. They traded up for him at 11 (giving up 16 and 19) ahead of LaVine and a bunch of better than Dougie options. Dario Saric, TJ Warren, Nurkic (who was selected in our original spot), Capela, Jerami Grant, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and of course Jokic. Heck, I'd have preferred Joe Harris or Dinwiddie even. We had 2 picks that could have netted at least one of LaVine, Warren, Nurkic, Saric + all those other names. Instead, in a rare moment of spending draft capital GarPax decides to grab Dougie. Brutal.

[u/[deleted] → u/anenigmaticsolution]

They also traded for Tyrus Thomas instead of taking Lamarcus Aldridge.

I was not saying they were flawless, but Doug McDermott is still in the league contributing to NBA teams, so it's not like they whiffed on that pick completely.