http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/paxson_feature_060921.html

Excellent read. Part 2 coming Monday. Paxson is the man!

I can't really put into words the job Paxson has done in the short time he's been here. I just get annoyed when people act as if Ben Wallace is the final piece to a championship puzzle. He's not Shaq/KG/Duncan. Those are guys that make you an instant contender by themselves. Are the Bulls better? Without a doubt. But for the Bulls to be truly great, Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, ect, are gonna have to evolve into better players.

Yes...and it all started for Pax when he drafted Hinrich...everyone wanted Wade...and when Hinrich was picked they were all chuckling. As the old saying goes, "he who laughs last...laughs hardest."
I say Kirk and Pax get the last laugh...I can hardly wait to get my tix...and get this season started!!!

Not that Kirk is a bad player or anything, but this would still be a better team on it with Wade vs Hinrich. The Bulls wanted to draft Wade over Hinrich, but got beats to the pick by Miami. The rest is history.

But I think perhaps the most beautiful part of what Paxson has done is that he has not only found people with very high potential, he has also built up a system which seems destined to allow those guys to achieve their potential.

Hinrich, Deng, Noc; very hard working guys on defense, given a coach who preaches defense. Those guys don't necessarily put up the most dominant scoring numbers, so Pax grabs Gordon who can give us scoring in bunches. Gordon doesn't defend well, so he's covered by the other guys and gets to work with Skiles to try to improve. Those guys don't have a ton of size/power, so Pax goes out and gets the best power/defense guy avaiable, and maybe the best in the game, in Ben Wallace, which suddenly should make all of those guys even better perimeter defenders because they'll always have help behind them. Then he drafts Thomas, who may not be the best immediate fit for this team, but who gets to sit behind BWall, learn, and develop, and hopefully show some of that talent that made him a useful pick. Then he throws in a bigger guard in Thabo who can cover for some of Gordon's defensive deficiencies.

Compare that to the job someone like Isiah has done. Isiah has basically spent all his time trying to find the best players. Lots of GM's do that, sometimes it even works (Riley). But Pax has spent all his effort trying to find players that work well together along with the system. On paper, the results look gorgeous so far.

It's awesome to have the Bulls back... just so awesome.

And no knocks on D-wade...Hinrich faced him in New Orleans at the Final 4 when he was with Marquette...but this Bulls team is starting to having the makings of another dynasty...Hinrich's a big,big part of that.

D-Wayde and Hinrich are on 2 different planets. Hinrich may develop into one of the best if not the best PG in the league in a couple of years but D-Wayde is already one of the best SG's in the league. It's the difference between a superstar and a potential all-star. Hopefully one day Hinrich will reach all-star status but I don't think he is ever reaching super-star status. Except of course in your eyes.

I like Hinrich and I know he is a big part of what the Bulls do. But I see him for what he is, a good hardworking basketball players with all-star potential. Kind of similar to John Stockton (if he could ever learn to shoot that well). But he is not even close to Stockton yet.

Well put. You hit the nail on the head

I can't wait for the next installment... good read.