Bill Simmons Trade Deadline grades Options

[TeaLeafReaderII]

from espn.com:

"CHICAGO: F-infinity-minus
When the media guide for the No Balls Association is released, I demand that John Paxson appears on the cover. At some point, you have to roll the dice, right? Not landing Gasol was inexcusable; the Bulls could have made the Finals with him (and if it meant sacrificing Luol Deng, Ty Thomas and the Knicks' pick, so be it). Instead, they did nothing ... which means they overpaid Ben Wallace when they already had a younger version of him for two-thirds the money (Tyson Chandler), gave away Chandler AND J.R. Smith for an expiring contract (P.J. Brown) because they wanted a trading piece for the deadline, then never ended up making a freaking trade.

I mean ...

Where does that rank among the most bizarre/inexplicable/head-scratching game plans in recent NBA history? Near the top, right? And if that's not bad enough, Paxson should have sold high on the Knicks' pick in December -- once the Celtics, Bucks, Hawks and Nets started getting crushed by injuries and the Iverson/Philly situation fell apart, everyone and their brother could see a 35-win season for the Knicks coming. What was the purpose of holding on to that pick? Are we even sure Paxson is alive? Has anyone seen him in the past three months? If he's missing or dead, I apologize for the last three paragraphs
"

even when he is tearing apart my favorite team, Bill Simmons is still the best sports writer in the game. (FWIW he tore apart pretty much every team in the NBA too.)