Posted June 26, 2007

“Those things are so out there that it’s not worth commenting on," Paxson said of the Kobe Bryant speculation. "There’s nothing going on, that’s just the reality of it.”

With the 2007 NBA Draft just two days away, Bulls general manager John Paxson met with the media on Monday afternoon for the final time before making his picks. Armed with the 9th selection in a deep, talented draft, he spoke about the big men who might be available late in the lottery, speculation about Chicago acquiring Kobe Bryant, some free agency thoughts and more.

On if the Bulls end up keeping the pick, how many players he might conceivably consider taking:
“There are still quite a few. There’s a range of four or five that we’re still having a debate about, and that’s what is fun about the whole process. We’ve sat down with the coaches and watched a lot of guys on the film that we have and gone through all the background stuff. We’re still debating. A lot of it comes down to position, experience, and how ready certain guys are. A lot of things could happen. It seems like every draft that somebody is there who you don’t expect to be. We’ve made a lot of headway in terms of narrowing the field down, but it’s still a decision that won’t be made until I have to make it.”

On how the teams ahead of the Bulls may draft:
“I can’t worry about too much about what goes on ahead of us. That’s how the draft works. Those teams may have a little narrower of a field [to choose from] and we’ve been in that position before. There is still a lot out there for us to consider, and I think as we’ve gone through this process we’ve realized more than ever that we really like this draft. There are a lot of good players out there.”

On the possibility of selecting a big man with the 9th pick:
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out. There are two or three guys who are kind of prominent after you get past the first two picks, but maybe they’ll be gone. We don’t know that yet. I know we have a need for a big, but again, if there’s a player out there that we like better, I don’t know why we’d pass on that guy. We’ve done a good job of getting a lot of players in [for workouts]. Part of this process, too, is always thinking ahead. For us to get a large number of players in the building and meet them and watch them workout, that could be something we use two or three years from now, or maybe this year by making a trade. So there’s nothing to the fact that we’re bringing in players at positions where we don’t necessarily have a need—we’re just trying to do as much work as we can given that you never know what could happen.”

On talking with other teams about a deal:
“We’ve talked to teams a little bit about the pick, but right now I’m approaching it as we’re going to have the pick and use it on Thursday night. Any talks I’ve had with anyone about the pick haven’t gone anywhere and are on the surface level. Unless I think it will improve our team, I won’t do it. As I’ve learned, a lot can happen in the next two or three days. So I do expect that as we get closer and teams want to get into the top 10 or 12 that maybe something will happen. At this point, it hasn’t presented itself, not anything of substance, but it could happen.”

On whether or not it’s within the realm of possibility to acquire Kobe Bryant:
“Those things are so out there that it’s not worth commenting on. There’s nothing going on, that’s just the reality of it.”

On the importance of finding a player who will play next season:
“Ideally we’d like to find a guy that can contribute—that would be the perfect scenario. But it’s something we debate all the time and how we will go about making our decision on Thursday night. I don’t think it’s a necessity, because if there’s not a guy there that will be able to give you 20-25 minutes a game next year but there’s a guy on the board that you like… I’m pretty confident in looking at our history over the last four years and the players we’ve drafted—guys who like to play and get better on their own—and we also hope that what we do here helps players get better. So I’m pretty confident that even if we do pick a guy who won’t play 20-25 minutes a game next year, that he’ll get better here as a player. Again, it’s trying to build a basketball team, and that’s how we look at it as well.”

On Chicago’s second-round picks:
“We’ve done a lot of work on those too. We’ve got some late seconds in 49 and 51, and whether or not there will be anything there we don’t know. You can take some flyers in those situations. The investment that you put in, in terms of dollars, isn’t as great, and we like a lot of guys who could potentially be there. If you’re counting on a player like that though, you’re probably in trouble.”

On the Kobe situation and what it would take for a trade:
“I put myself in the [Lakers’] position when talking about deals. What we would have to give up, unless that franchise would ever have a change in heart to do something, I don’t know how that would work for us. They’ve got maybe the top talent in the league, definitely top three, and what we would have to do to get him I don’t even know what it would be.”

On if he sees a scenario in which the Bulls move up in the draft:
“I really don’t. We’d have to give up something very significant and the players that you would do that for are not available in this draft.”

On having a key, go-to player:
“I think Lu [Deng] is getting to that point as a basketball player. He’s made significant improvement every year and I think he has that ability. But we do not have one guy like LeBron or Kobe. Kirk [Hinrich] at the point has gotten better and better, and we still think he needs to grow and develop into a real consistent point guard who delivers the ball on time to the right people in the right places and those types of things. But we do not have that superstar guy who makes everybody around them better.”

On if he considers this to be a deep draft:
“It is deep and on a lot of different levels. A lot of the depth is with young players who won’t necessarily come in and make their make this coming season. They’ll be guys that two, three or four years down the road could be prominent names in the league. I know that there is a lot of pressure on us given that we made it to the second round this last year and that we have a high pick; people want to think that’s going to be the piece that makes everything better. I hope that’s the case too, but it may be a guy that’s not ready. We have a situation here where our young guys have grown and become veteran guys. Can we bring a young player into that mix and make it a successful match? I like to think that we can, and I think that’s what good teams tend to do.”

On free agency:
“We won’t have money under the cap because of Nocioni being a restricted free agent. But we’re in very good shape to go out and spend a little money in free agency if that’s what it takes. The ideal thing for us if we’re going to make a significant move as a team is to make a trade at some point for a guy that fits. First of all, you can’t make a deal where you gut your team for one player where all of a sudden you don’t know if you’re any better or not. You can’t do that. You also don’t want to make a bad move where you give up something of value for something that doesn’t really help you. It’s a tough thing. At some point, we’re going to have to make a deal. But I’ve got to be patient. If we can acquire a player in this draft at nine that is a valuable piece, it may open up more things to us in terms of trading. We’ll have one more piece that someone, somewhere down the line may like.”

On second interviews with the big men and getting Yi to Chicago:
“We did not get Yi in for a visit unfortunately; he wouldn’t go to any team. Spencer Hawes is going to New York [Tuesday] and we’re going to have him fly through here and sit down one more time and talk to him. But that’s really it.”

On Yi’s workout in Los Angeles:
“He’s a very skilled big guy. The issues with him are that he didn’t play against great competition in the Chinese Basketball Association. But he’s a seven-footer who runs the floor as well as any big guy around and the can shoot it. There are some skilled bigs in this draft. But are they really ready to come in and contribute? That’s the big question.”

On the difficulty of evaluating a player like Yi:
“It’s basically a workout that was designed for him. It showed off his strengths, but it was a workout where there wasn’t any contact or anything like that. He was shooting, running and doing footwork things that you like to see. But that was the extent of it, and we can’t force the issue on those things. The agent allowed us to come out there [to Los Angeles], which was great.”

On the emphasis placed on a college player such as Joakim Noah who has won:
“We drafted Ben Gordon [whose UConn team won the title] and Kirk had been to the championship game. I do think it’s important. You don’t win by chance, and those types of guys are winners. Noah played for two national championship teams. He’s a winner who plays with heart and passion. You can say the same things about Corey Brewer, Al Horford and Taurean Green. There’s something that can be said for winning. You have to accept the role and ultimately those kids know what winning is all about. There is a lot that can be said about that from our end.”

On Chris Duhon being part of a possible deal:
“Right now Chris is our back up point. To me, he’s very valuable because you don’t find many better back up point guards in the league. We did correspond [about a potential deal] and hopefully he’s doing alright with everything.”

On Andrés Nocioni’s physical state:
“Besides from little things, rest is about the only thing we can do right now. From what I understand he’s doing fine and we’ll address him on July 1 when we’re able to.”

On comparing a youthful Spencer Hawes with the more experienced Joakim Noah:
“With Noah, you can make the argument because of his three years at Florida and especially the last two years. He can rebound, he can defend, and he can block shots. He’s going to have a chance to step on an NBA floor. But that’s the debate that we’re having every day. It will be my decision at the end of the day, but there has been a lot of healthy debate along those lines. We’ll do what we feel is the right thing to do on Thursday night.”

On Colorado State product Jason Smith:
“He played out west, his team wasn’t very good, and he didn’t get a lot of publicity. He’s another athletic four, a seven-footer who can run the floor, make a shot, and has some intangible things. There’s a grouping of guys that are bigs and there’s a grouping of guys that are wings and there will be four or five of those guys at No. 9. In a perfect world, you want the guy that fits best from a needs standpoint but also from a talent standpoint.”