10 worst NBA front offices
By John Buhler
player. 24. . East. Central. Chicago Bulls. 6
Like their Central Division rival in the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls have over the years shown that they can win a ton of basketball games without having the best of front offices. Star players and fantastic head coaches have bailed out the Bulls from their antagonistic front office of owner Jerry Reinsdorf, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, and general manager Gar Forman.
Even when the Bulls win, whether it was the Michael Jordan era or the Tom Thibodeau era, it’s never been smooth sailing in Chicago for whatever reason. Though Jordan and Thibodeau were fantastic at what they did while with the Bulls, struggles with ownership and the front office led to rocky divorces.
Where the Bulls started to act strangely was in the final years of the Thibodeau era in the Windy City. It didn’t matter that Chicago was perennially one of the three best teams in the Eastern Conference, management grew tired of Thibodeau’s savant behavior on the defensive end. He’s arguably the best defensive-mind in the NBA in the last 15 years, but the Bulls front office hated how he was overworking his players and resulting in widespread injuries.
In his last year with the Bulls in 2014-15, Forman and Paxson pretty much let Bulls players undermine Thibodeau and not listen to their coach. After Thibodeau’s firing, Chicago swiftly hired former Bulls shooting guard and Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg to bring in a fresh offensive approach to the Bulls program.
Hoiberg’s Bulls failed to reach the Eastern Conference Playoffs in 2016, players like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah left the team, and the Bulls’ front office has now given Hoiberg a roster that can’t shoot jump shots.
When Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic are the best outside shooters on a basketball club, something is wrong. The Bulls have a great defensive team with the additions of Robin Lopez, Dwyane Wade, and potentially Rajon Rondo to superstar shooting guard Jimmy Butler, but how does this make Hoiberg’s second year with the Bulls any easier?
Are the 2016-17 Bulls rebuilding or trying to just keep things interesting? If they were dead set on being a defensive-minded team, why get rid of Thibodeau and bring in Hoiberg? It’s certainly a confusing time at the United Center for Chicago’s basketball team.
Next: 5. Orlando Magic.