Gar Forman

Sam Smith

After 22 years with the Chicago Bulls, Gar Forman was relieved of his duties as General Manager and will not be involved in the Basketball Operations Department. The 2011 NBA Executive of the Year led the Bulls to the playoffs in seven of his 10 years as General Manager.

JERRY REINSDORF: "Gar Forman worked tirelessly for the Chicago Bulls organization, first as a scout and then as an executive. He made many significant contributions during his time here and helped to bring some of the brightest young basketball talent to our team, from Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson to Jimmy Butler and Coby White. He has been a trusted advisor and friend to me over the years, and on behalf of everyone I want to thank him for his commitment to the organization. Gar will always be a part of our Bulls family."

GAR FORMAN: "It has been an honor and a privilege to work for the Chicago Bulls for more than two decades. There is no better ownership group in professional sports than the Reinsdorfs, and I want to thank Jerry and Michael for their support during my tenure. The Bulls organization will always hold a special place in my heart."

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Chicago Bulls statement on Gar Forman

This time the Bulls are saying it's time.

"Our goals for the season are to make the playoffs," Bulls coach Jim Boylen offered firmly at the annual media day training camp opening Monday in the Advocate Center. "That's our goal for the season, to make the playoffs. And every day to prepare like we're a playoff team. Every day to work like we're a playoff bound team. I'm excited for that. I think that's the only way to do it. There's no way that we were going to stand up here and say, ‘Hey, I hope we can win 10 more games or we hope we can be better.' We want to get to the mountain top."

Sure, there was that picture everyone saw recently of the line to get to the top of Everest.

And coming off 27 and 22-win seasons, it would seem the Bulls would be at the back of the line.

But unlike the past few years with various short term personnel additions and debates about whether it was smart or correct to even win games, the Bulls feel like they are at least back in the climb.

Perhaps eighth place is like base camp, but management knows it's time to start admiring the view from above.

2019-20 Bulls Media Day: Gar Forman, John Paxson, and Jim Boylen

"We have revamped this roster in a big way, and a way in that we can look at this team and we see real talent," insisted Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson. "We see a versatile roster, we see some depth on this roster, we see some leadership on this roster which we haven't had, and because of that our goals this year are really simple. We want to compete at a high, high level. We think we can compete. And when you compete at a high level, you have an ability to be a playoff caliber team. We set that as a goal. Jim talks about it, he's not afraid of it, and our guys through their work have shown us that they want to make that commitment. So we feel good about that. Because of that, when we look at our roster we know we have a lot of players who are going to have to sacrifice in order for us to be the type of team we want to be, and we're going to need certain guys to step up to be the type of team we want to be.

"This has been a very good summer for us as an organization," Paxson added. "I think it really started last year when we made the coaching change and put Jim in charge. He's found his footing with this team and his ability to lead. His leadership this summer has been really, really good. The commitment our guys made this last month to be here when they don't have to be, to get together, to form some camaraderie has something that has been a powerful thing around this building. We know as well as anyone that we have not done anything. But we like our talent level and we like what we have in this building."

Of course, that's not unlike the script at 29 other NBA training camp media days: Everyone's working hard, everyone is in great shape, can't wait to get going, this is the year.

Though it hasn't been like that the last two uneasy years when it seemed like the compass the Bulls were using was pointing south. And east and west, though rarely up.

But with the acquisition of dependable and reputable veterans like Otto Porter Jr. last February and Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky last summer so they won't have to rely on rookies like Coby White and Daniel Gafford, the return to health of Wendell Carter Jr. and Denzel Valentine and the promise of potential stars like Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, the Bulls again appear to have a roster capable of competing with the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

The bar is not that high since everyone was talking about just competing for the playoffs, which is not that great an honor in the NBA since 16 of the 30 teams qualify. But perhaps for teams other than the 76ers and maybe the Bucks as long as Giannis Antetokounmpo remains healthy, the Eastern Conference may be as weak as its been since the mid-1990s and open for new faces.

The Bulls are one among many, like the Hawks, Magic, Heat, Pistons, Nets, Pacers and Celtics. But at least they appear back in the picture.

The opening day revelations and comments suggested why:

"Otto had a great summer in the weight room. He's bigger and stronger, and he's in better condition. Zach is starting to get his man body. His athleticism, speed and quickness, his ankles are healthy. His attitude is unbelievable. He was here the whole month. He's taken it to a whole other level athletically, which is hard to believe. But he has. Wendell Carter is 273 pounds; he's six percent body fat. That tells you he's put some work in. Lauri Markkanen is always in shape, he always works, and he's ready to take his leadership role and play winning basketball. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Thad Young and his ability to talk to our guys in a way that helps them grow and learn. We've added ballers to this team. Coby White, whether he's a one, a two, he's a baller. Shaq's (Harrison) a baller. (Ryan) Archie's a baller. Archie started 12 games at two for us last year. His true position is probably point guard, but he's a baller. Thad Young's a baller. He can play three, four or five. He's a matchup nightmare. That's what this roster is.

"We'd like to play faster, we'd like to get even better with a multi handler system. The thing we've been working on is when a guy brings it up other guys have to run, be in condition to run for 48 minutes; we want to be a solid, good defensive team. One thing we did poorly last year was our deep drive decisions. We have to honor our spacing night in and night out. We have to do a better job of playing point-5 basketball, which is you catch it and either drive it, shoot it or pass it (within a half second). That's what we've been working on."

"We have some guys who are at a time in their careers where they have to step up. That's Zach, that's Lauri, that's Otto. We know we have young guys that know it's their time to step up. We also talked about the fact that they're mature young guys. Wendell can be thrown in that mix, too. He's a very mature 20-year-old young man. That's the reality of this thing. They need to step up, but we have people around them, complements to this team that will help this team a lot."

On health, Paxson did add: "Chandler (Hutchison) is going to be out for a little bit; he had a hamstring injury. We are going to bring him along slowly. Luke Kornet has a little turf toe; he's probably going to be out. Denzel (Valentine) and Wendell are ready to go."

"I knew Chicago was in (the free agent) game. I was really excited that I wanted to end up here and I was so excited about this new team from conversations with coach, with new pieces like Thad as a veteran and a leader. I was all in and fortunately it ended up that way. I came from places where I was taught to play the game the right way and always compete for every game and for every play, and that's not going to change here. I think that's all we want, to compete every game and put ourselves at the end of the game in a position to win the game. I'm new in the NBA only for four seasons, but I've been playing professionally for 12 years and I'm not as vocal as Thad in the locker room, but I hope I can lead by example."

"I remember playing these guys and they played us so hard when I was in Indiana, gave us tough games each and every time. I want to be a part of this, I want to be a part of helping them build something great, building a new culture and just being a leader out there for these guys and just showing them how to win and showing them how we can get ourselves to the playoffs. You have teams that were playoff teams, teams that have potential championships and stuff like that looking at me (in free agency) and wanted to have me come in. But at the end of the day, for me, I think it was more about need than anything. I felt like this team needed me in the process. I felt like this team would give me a chance to come and help lead, help build something, help grow something, and build some culture. Which is what we did in Indiana and it puts me in the same potential place to where I was before, where I can come in and help a team get better and potentially make the playoffs. That was one of the biggest things, taking on that challenge and being ready to go out there and do the unexpected. "A lot of people always say that once you get in between these lines it starts, but it doesn't start in between the lines. It starts in the locker room where we're sitting there shooting the bullcrap. We're sitting there talking and playing amongst each other. It starts in there, building that camaraderie, building that brotherhood with one another and then it translates out to the court. If you don't like each other in the locker room then you're not going to like each other on the court. So we have to make sure that it's all together in there before we step out on the court. Because at the end of the day the coaches can't go out there and play for us, front office can't go out there and play for us. We have to go out there and play for ourselves as a team, a unit, and we have to be unified at all costs and that's the only way we're going to win games, being unified, having a structured situation to where we go out there and play. Making sure we're all together at all times, even if we're going to take some L's in the process. "Hold everybody accountable, including myself. Going out there each and every day, and when these guys see a guy who's going into his 13th season going just as hard, taking charges and diving on the floor for loose balls and stuff like that, it makes them want to go out there and do the same thing. It makes them want to play at a high intensity level. So just bring a lot of intangibles to the game, but also respecting the game and making sure that my teammates are being led the right way and make sure I'm helping them grow their games the right way (Young last season was among the league leaders in charges taken, deflections and loose balls retained)."

"I'm at 100 percent now. I feel a lot better than I have been the last five, six years. So I feel like the surgery was definitely a necessity. I feel like the whole league has changed; a lot of stars have been shifted all around the league. So I feel like it gives us a really, really good opportunity – as long as everybody stays healthy – to make it to the playoffs. Expect to see a lot more aggressive Wendell, but smarter at the same time. Someone who's going to go in, know where I can get my shots from, but know where my bread and butter is, and that's on the defensive side and rebounding. I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team on the offensive end that's realistic. But you'll definitely see a more aggressive, confident Wendell on the offensive end."

"I think the mentality of this organization changed since I've come here; just what we want to do here has changed. We've come in early to put in that extra work, to get to know everybody. We got to compete against each other, see who's the best every week (during September games). I think that's something that everybody wanted. But also a time to build that team bonding and team chemistry.

I think Zach (won) the most games, but it was like a tournament. So four different players won.

We want to do something special here and I think it starts by coming together, being around each other and then working together on and off the court, new team, new teammate, new mindset. I think playoffs is definitely an achievement that we want to accomplish. We know it's not going to be easy."

"I want to be able to play all 82 and even more into the playoffs. We (with Markkanen) want to be known as a great combo. We want to take our team to the playoffs. I don't think it's pressure. We expect to be there. On the (All-Star game) dunk contest, it's in the back of my mind. I've had that stage to where I played on Saturday. Obviously, I want to play on Sunday. We both want to play on Sunday. If my legs are at the right way, I feel like maybe I'll do it. (Markkanen smiles and says: "I'm not saying anything that he's doing it or anything like that, I've just seen the stuff he does."). We both played extremely well at times last year. I can speak for myself. I had an All-Star-caliber season, but I didn't take it as that because we didn't win. You're at the All-Star break and have 14 wins. I think everything comes with winning, and I want that to be more important. Because if we're in that position to where we're winning and we're playing the right way and we can make the playoffs, that's going to be enough validation for us being into that (All-Star) game. Let's be realistic, we're the main scouting report on the other team. That's respect from other teams. I draw double teams. He draws double teams. I want to be in that elite group conversation. I think I've put a footprint and took the right step last year, but I was trying to tell people, that's just the floor. Everything comes with winning. I think I'm on the right path."

"Just like Zach, my goal is to play all 82 games and be available every night. I'm trying to become a two-way player, work on my defense because I think that's the key to success – have multiple guys who do it on both ends. One thing we always talk about is the availability. I think the goal for all three of us – obviously Otto was just with us to the end of the year – is to play all 82. For me and Zach, obviously, they talk about becoming more on the defensive end. Just work on that and becoming two-way players. I think that's a big step we can take. Like he said, everything comes from winning. (He's) going into what, sixth year? I'm going into my third year. We haven't made it to the playoffs, haven't won a whole lot of games. That's one thing that I know really pisses both of us off. So we want to get to that winning record first. Obviously, that comes from us playing well and the whole team playing well together. It all starts with winning."

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Bulls talk playoff hopes at Media Day

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Full video: Gar Forman and John Paxson - trade with Wizards

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2018 NBA Draft Night: Press Conference - 6.21

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Bulls.com

It probably was a good day Monday for Nikola Mirotic. After all, he didn’t miss a shot, and pretty much everyone else on the Bulls did in a four for 35 three-point shooting game in the Summer League in the 75-55 Bulls loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Mirotic remains a free agent. He has been negotiating with the Bulls as well as other teams, but the market seems to be shrinking. Bulls General Manager Gar Forman said the Bulls remain optimistic they will resign Mirotic.

“Yes, we are (optimistic about bringing back Mirotic),” Forman said. “Because we want Niko back and we think Niko wants to be in Chicago. Usually when you have those two things, at the end of the day there’s usually a way to get something done.”

Mirotic and the Bulls apparently have not been able to agree on a contract amount. But as a restricted free agent with the Bulls able to match an offer, there apparently has been a hesitance around the NBA with teams to make a substantial offer to Mirotic, who has been inconsistent his three seasons with the Bulls.

The 26-year-old Mirotic saw his scoring average drop this season from 11.8 per game to 10.6. His three-point shooting also fell, from 39 percent to 34 percent. He is a career 35 percent three-point shooter in three seasons with the Bulls. The Bulls also used their lottery pick from the Jimmy Butler trade for three-point shooting big man Lauri Markkanen.

Forman in a post game session Monday with reporters at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas also addressed several other issues with the team:

--- Forman said there have been no discussions regarding a potential buyout of the contract of Dwyane Wade;

--- Forman said the coaching staff will remain, essentially unchanged, with perhaps a minor change of an assistant who sits in the second row of coaches;

--- The Bulls officially announced the signing of Justin Holiday, the former Bull who went to the Knicks in the Derrick Rose trade.

“Length, athleticism, a guy who can defend on the perimeter and make a perimeter shot,” Forman said about the team’s continued attraction with Holiday. “We had him. So we love what he brings to the chemistry of a team. He’s our kind of guy. We were real excited when we were able to get that done the first couple days. He’s still somewhat young. He fits the direction we’re headed.”

---- Kris Dunn had to leave Summer League Monday for “a personal family issue that he needs to attend to. Obviously, we’re supporting him fully. He’s fine (physically),” said Forman;

---- Paul Zipser is day to day with an ankle sprain;

----- What of the declining level of talent in the Eastern Conference? Could this Bulls team make the playoffs? Responded Forman: “We look at it as far as what we need to do, what we feel we need to do in a rebuild. You never know until you’re in somebody else’s shoes as far as what’s going on. But I do know that we feel really good as far as taking a step back, the direction we can now head as far as rebuilding around these young guys, and continuing to add to that.’’

----- The progress from surgery of Zach LaVine. Said Forman: “We haven’t put a timeline or date on it, but I do know that we’ll be really conservative in that we look at this as a big-window move as far as bringing Zach (back to play) at 22 years old. He’s been fantastic. He’s been in our gym working out, working with our athletic performance staff. He came out here (to Las Vegas) and spent some time with the young players and continues to work with our staff. So we’ll be cautious. What that means? We won’t know until we get into the season and see exactly where he’s at."

---- On more roster moves, Forman said: “That’s something we’ll continue to look at. Yeah. We think we have some good veterans in Robin (Lopez) and Dwyane, and even some of the young veterans we have. But we’ve got some roster spots and we’re continuing to have conversations as far as adding a player or two.

“We have great, great fans; we have passionate fans,” said Forman. “That’s one of the pluses in being in Chicago is that they’re very passionate about the Bulls. We understand that it’s always hard when you have had a level of success, and then you’ve got to take a step back and go in a new direction as far as a rebuild is concerned. And we know that it’s going to be a process and there’s going to be ups and downs within that process, but we think the trade gave us a step in the right direction as far as heading that way, where we got three young players who we really like. And we continue to keep a great level of flexibility. The big thing for us now is to integrate these young guys in, continue to develop the young guys that we have from the previous year. Continue to keep a level of flexibility where we can add assets, whether it’s via trade because of the cap room or the flexibility that we have. We have a $15 million trade exception with Jimmy, and we’ve all seen where last year there was a spike, there was a huge bump and a very active market. I think we’re seeing the market suppress some this summer, and I think as we go into next summer as the cap is flattening, the ability to have young players, develop those young players, have flexibility in order to add assets, and then draft picks will get us a step up in trying to go forward. The key now will be player development, this group continuing to work, continuing to develop, continuing to play hard, and the fans seeing progress with this group over the next year or two and continuing to add to it and these guys get better.’’

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Bulls GM Gar Forman Discusses The Off-Season And Roster

Bulls management Wednesday explained, and there was news, there was what was known, and mostly, hardly unsurprisingly, uncertainty going forward. Which actually was not that surprising.

The news was that the Bulls intend to bring back Rajon Rondo, who has a team option and relatively small buyout in his contract.

“There’s a really good chance that we bring Rajon back and for these reasons,” said Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson. “As we get younger, it’s still really important to have quality veterans around your young players. To a man, our young people loved Rajon. He was great in the locker room. He was great off the court with these guys. He took them under his wing in a lot of ways, and he was responsible for a lot of the good things that came from them. We have a lot of respect for Rajon, especially how he believes in the game. He used to drag guys into the weight room, and he held them accountable in a lot of ways. We really take a lot from him.”

What was known was the return of coach Fred Hoiberg, which Paxson supported with emphasis.

“Fred’s our coach. He’ll be back,” Paxson said in his opening statement.

A big part of that uncertainty, meanwhile, is the option Dwyane Wade has on whether to return as the highest paid player on the team at $23.8 million. It’s Wade’s option, and though he doesn’t have to tell the team until after the draft, he seemed to indicate at his post season session with reporters he will return. Wade said then he could see himself, if necessary, being a mentor to young players. In other words, “Are you giving up $24 million to hang out with LeBron? Not me.”

It also seemed like the Bulls would try to retain restricted free agent Nikola Mirotic.

“We value Niko,” said General Manager Gar Forman. “Niko made it clear that he wants to be in Chicago. We made it clear that we would like for him to be in Chicago. When those things align, you hope you can get something done when July 1 comes. We certainly would hope that Niko would be back.” Forman also said the Bulls hoped to retain fellow free agent Cristiano Felicio, though, again depending on a potential offer.

Which didn’t provide any greater clarity to the question of whether the team will/would want to/would even consider trading Jimmy Butler. Not because they don’t believe he is their best player. Paxson basically said without hesitation, there’s no one close.

But how do you get off a 41-41 treadmill?

“When we signed (Rondo and Wade) last year they understood what they were coming to,” reminded Paxson. “We had already made the deal for Robin (Lopez), so they understood what the deal was. We haven’t altered from that course. Dwyane has an option and we’re going to sit down with him and talk to him about all of this. The thing with Jimmy is all of us would love to go out and get another a superstar player to go along with him, but right now the situation we’re in, the salaries we have, that type of thing, that’s a difficult thing for us to manage.

“Jimmy is far and away our best player,” Paxson reiterated. “He’s an all-NBA type guy. His work ethic, as most people know, is one of the best in the league. Our job, you always have to keep things open. We’re going to sit down with Jimmy again. We’re going to talk to him and we’re going to define to him, with him, our thoughts. That’s not for today. We respect Jimmy, we respect his opinion and we will sit down and talk with him.”

Which sounded like the obvious, which seems to have occurred: We’re not with our record in position to make anyone untouchable. But you better knock us over. No one has come close to doing so.

Which could pretty much leave little, if any, room to pursue free agents. And though the Bulls have to consider all options after a .500 season, it sounded a lot like another season to be patient and then perhaps with substantial salary cap room after next season—and most teams without similar financial availability—strike. After all, it’s not like the Cavs and Warriors are quite close to being spent yet.

No one is saying they still could be playing if Rondo wasn’t hurt against Boston. They lost. But if there doesn’t seem like there will be any obvious change in abandoning the current roster, there will be changes, and it could be the kind that help turn average into much better.

After all, this was the first season this group of players was together. Butler, Wade and Rondo seemed to have finally figured out late in the season how to play together and respect one another. And stop communicating by social media. Perhaps that comfort along with more certainty in the roster and rotation will enable the team to make the sort of leap that could get it in position to strike with a top free agent after next season when the advantage falls to the Bulls in the open market.

“Our expectation is our young guys will have a more consistent, more defined role,” said Paxson. “There was too much inconsistency in the rotations and trying to plug holes from game to game. Our expectation as an organization (going into last season) was to be competitive, but also create an environment where our young players grew and developed in a competitive environment. Some of that happened, but we saw what you saw and what a lot of our fans saw: Inconsistency in our play and really a team that was searching for an identity much of the season. Getting to the playoffs, always for a young group of guys, is something that they can learn from. But we always know that’s not the goal. Gar and I are committed to reshaping the roster, continuing to do that in that in a disciplined fashion.”

It didn’t suggest the Bulls were saying they are not that far away. But that with a tighter rotation, more defined roles (you’re a starter; you’re a reserve) and perhaps a few additions in free agency or trade to the periphery you might see what they hoped to see this past season.

“It's fair to say we don't have great shooting,” Paxson agreed. “That's something we have to be on the lookout for. Outside of Rondo, our point guards did not play with push and pace the way Fred wants to play. So yes, we have to continue to look at the style he wants to play, and look at players that fit that. Last year, maybe we did plug some holes and do some patchwork stuff that maybe did not turn out. That's our responsibility. But as disjointed as the team was, we ended up winning seven of our last 10 games. Against Boston when Rajon was healthy, we end up playing our best basketball of the year. It's not an excuse, Rajon goes down and we fall apart. We didn't have the support system behind him to help us win that series. We can sit here and say with him, we might have still been playing, but it didn't happen.”

So it’s not the time to panic. They did use the word process, which is not copyrighted by the 76ers, who, the Bulls noticed, you may also not want to be. They didn’t exactly say that, but frequent media suggestions to dismantle the team generally mean reporters have a Cubs game to get to.

“We have those discussions all the time,” said Paxson. “But the opportunity has to be right. We understand what we’re facing. We’ve understood it since last year when we decided to change course. To say just blow it up? For example, if we don’t get something in return that puts us in a position to really move forward, you can’t do that. We’ve talked about (Jimmy). Ideally, in the system Fred wants to run, we need to play with pace and push. Jimmy’s a different player than some of these other guys. He has the ball in his hands a lot. But there was a stretch of games late in the year he had some big assist games. We know his value. To say just blow it up? It’s easy to say it. It’s tough to do it.

“You see it around the league, it's (often) six, eight, 10 years before you get back in the playoffs,” Paxson pointed out. “You have to be a little bit lucky and the year you draft it has to hit for you.”

And now players come to the NBA at 19. Sure, the scouts are excited about this draft loaded with point guards, perhaps the game’s most important position in this era. The Bulls know they still need to get a good one. Rondo seemingly will return, but he’s signed for one more season. Maybe he can start and mentor a young point guard like the Chicago Bears NFL team appears to be doing with a quarterback draft. Forman did say given the late acquisition and injury issues, the team will give another look to point guard Cameron Payne. But Paxson said they’ll continue their search for a top level point guard, and he also make it clear auditions are over going forward. The rotation has to be consistent.

Paxson also disputed reports the team’s management structure has changed.

“I’m going to make this clear,” said Paxson. “The setup we’ve had since Gar was named GM in 2009…, the hierarchy is the same. My responsibility is reporting to Jerry and Michael (Reinsdorf). Gar’s responsibility is reporting to me. We overlap in what we do every single day and we work well together. This is very much like in the business world, CEO, COO relationship. My responsibilities lie mostly in defining the culture of what we do every day; Gar’s responsibility as GM is in the day to day grind of this business. In my role, I always have the ability to say yes or no. It's that simple.”

Without naming teams, Forman indicated that after this summer, most teams will find themselves locked into long terms deals and being who they are. Perhaps then the Bulls can strike.

Paxson added: “There are a ton of teams, because this is the second year of the cap going up, well positioned financially to have a lot of cap space. We're not one to have a lot of cap space (this summer) unless we would renounce guys, and that's not what we're going to do.”

Forman: “Are we good enough? Are we where we want to be? Obviously, not. We're 41-41, a 500 team.”

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John Paxson and Gar Forman Address Media

It wasn’t how the Bulls hoped it would be eight years ago when they drafted Derrick Rose and with a future league Most Valuable Player were soon on the verge of the NBA Finals and perhaps another, at least, mini-dynasty.

But it officially ended Wednesday after a 115-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers that gave the Bulls a 42-40 record, but left them out of the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Bulls executives John Paxson and Gar Forman, effectively, confirmed in a post game press conference that this Bulls group once with so much hope and promise failed in its final run, and it’s time for major changes.

“This roster we brought back, we thought they had one more shot to make a real positive run in the Eastern Conference,” said Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson.”It obviously didn’t play out that way. And that’s where our biggest disappointment comes from.

“I do think that anybody who watched us play this year saw a team that didn’t have the collective fight and toughness to fight through adversity,” Paxson continued. “To me that’s the biggest disappointment in all of this. That falls on all of us. We put the roster together; the coaching staff and players, we’re all in this together. That’s the way it should be. Again, it goes back to responsibility and accountability for all of us. Gar (Forman, general manager) and I know we’re ultimately the ones that are responsible. Moving forward, we understand changes are going to have to be made.”

Paxson and Forman, speaking for about 30 minutes, didn’t elaborate or identify any specific changes. The Bulls now will get at least one lottery pick. Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol will be free agents, so they Bulls don’t know even if they’d be interested in a return. But Paxson made clear anyone on the roster could be traded, that there are no untouchables. Paxson said he considered Michael Jordan the only untouchable in trade player.

Paxson also said there have been no discussions regarding any management or coaching changes and a report that Forman’s job was in jeopardy was erroneous. Paxson said coach Fred Hoiberg is part of the answer going forward and they believe his future is bright, though Paxson said Hoiberg has to improve and be more demanding.

“We did have a lot of significant injuries that hurt us,” said Paxson. “But we as well as anyone understand that’s not an excuse. In fact, I told our guys, given the injuries we were good enough to make the playoffs. And we should’ve made the playoffs. Again, it goes back to responsibility and accountability for all of us. Gar and I know we’re ultimately the ones that are responsible. Moving forward, we understand changes are going to have to be made.”

And so ends this era of Bulls basketball, one that began so brightly with Rose’s ascendance and then turned the afternoon four years ago when Rose suffered a torn ACL and the Bulls have since been unable to escape the shadow of misfortune.

It’s obviously difficult to make major personal changes without reverting to an early 2000s Bulls model of a complete rebuild with young players. It failed badly for the Bulls then and it’s doubtful they attempt anything similar again.

The NBA’s salary cap will increase tens of millions of dollars in each of the next two summers. So the opportunity will be there to add veteran players. Plus, the Bulls have a fairly young roster with Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis, Tony Snell, Doug McDermott and recent arrivals who gave done well, like Cristiano Felicio and Justin Holiday, the latter with a career high 29 points in the Wednesday victory over the 76ers.

Rose has one year left on his contract as the team’s highest paid player at $21.3 million. Given his injury history, though he played his most games this season in four years, it’s unlikely teams would be interested. Butler has the most value as the team’s leading scorer with a contract through 2019-20 that isn’t excessive in today’s new economic terms. Taj Gibson and Mike Dunleavy both have one fully guaranteed year left on their contracts. Plus, the value of players is diminished when a team does poorer than expected, like the Bulls this season.

“Gar and I understand accountability,” said Paxson. “And we are accountable for what this team did this year. We don’t run away from it. We accept it. That’s on us. And we get it. And we understand what’s at stake.”

Paxson on coaching: “After last season, we made an organization decision to go in a different direction with our coach. And we hired Fred. We’re in this with Fred. I think the last few days Fred has an opportunity to express some things that are honest and candid about what he needs to do better. It’s our responsibility to help him along that way. And that’s looking at everything we do from top to bottom.

“We still believe Fred has a bright future. I’ve seen a lot of young guys in this league come in and have tough first years or second years but through hard work, they become better players. The same can be said for coaches. Fred is going to have to work at it. He’s going to have to devote a lot of time and energy to determining what he wants to be as a head coach and how he wants his teams to play. And we have to give him the resources to do that. And we will. We’re confident spending with Fred and going forward, we’re going to turn that part around. I left a final message with our group and told them this year wasn’t acceptable.”

Paxson on executive decisions: “Somebody told me that there was a report that Gar’s job is in jeopardy. It’s not. We’ve had one bad year. I can point to a lot of really good years where we’ve built something from scratch. And we have confidence that we’re going to get it right. That’s the way it is. Jerry and Michael (Reinsdorfs) obviously have the ultimate decision. And they’ll talk at the appropriate time, I’m sure. But Gar and I are going into this believing we’re going to get this done.”

Forman on not trading Gasol when they could lose him: “We value Pau and we like Pau, but anytime you have a restricted free agency you know there’s going to be opportunities and you could lose an unrestricted free agent. But in our situation if you really study where we’re at in our books and everything else, if that were to happen with any unrestricted free agent then the benefit of that is cap room, and cap room is an asset. So we felt the cap room was much more of an asset than anything that was in front of us.’’

Paxson on injuries and medical decisions: “We’ve begun a process of digging deeper into that, yes. Derrick’s injury the first day of training camp, there’s nothing you can do about that. Joakim’s, his shoulder, his arm was in the wrong place. So (Mirotic’s) appendicitis. But we’re all looking for ways to improve and be proactive in that area. Gar’s done a lot of background. We started the process of looking into things.’’

Paxson on chemistry: “I don’t think our chemistry, if that’s the right word, was great this year. For whatever reason the locker room wasn’t what you would like it to be. I do think going forward our vision of how to play, it’s what the league is getting to now. It’s more skilled basketball players, more pace up and down. We didn’t play that way this year for a lot of reasons.”

Paxson on Hoiberg: “Fred and his staff have to really get down to detail and get our guys to play that way. Because I don’t think it’s necessarily a personnel issue. If you demand of people and hold accountable, I think you can get them to do things on the floor. I know that from experience. Phil Jackson challenged me when he first got the job and I didn’t think I could do the things he asked me to do. I believe it can happen. I wouldn’t call it a miscalculation (to change coaches) for this reason alone, and you know this. We made that change last year for a lot of reasons, and they were all in the best interest of the Chicago Bulls organization. And that’s the bottom line. I’ve seen a lot of players come through this league and struggle, and they have really good careers. Some have great careers. Fred is a very bright guy. Every time we talk to him about basketball philosophy, we feel he’s on the right track mentally. We have to help him get to where that belief and vision and message translates to the court. He’s a great guy, he’s a hard worker, our players — even though you can say what you want, there was some controversy, whatever — our players respect that he’s played the game and is concerned about them. I think we can all grow in that capacity. We have all taken a lot of criticism, rightfully so, Fred included, but a rookie coach was dealt a lot of difficult injuries to navigate through. And I’m sure that’s going to make him stronger, too.’’

Paxson on Rose: “The thing with Derrick is he’s been through a lot. And I think because of that he’s had to look out for himself in a lot of ways. I can’t put myself in his place, I never had those types of injuries. So none of us have really walked in his shoes. We’ve got a lot of decisions to make, and that’s where we start. Our season’s over with, and we’re going to continue to work. We weren’t very good defensively, especially individually. We couldn’t keep people in front of us, and that’s important. Especially, that always starts with your guards, especially your point guard, creating, setting a tone. That’s an area Derrick’s really going to have to work on this summer. We need our point guard to set the tone defensively, there’s no question about that.”

Paxson on Rose and Butler: “They’re both very talented, but it didn’t always mesh this year. But you can say that about a lot of our players. Look, we need a tougher collective mindset. We need a better identity as a basketball team. Somewhere this year it got sideways. I’m not exactly sure where, but that’s on us to try and get right. Here’s how I feel about the whole leadership thing: When you’re talking too much about leadership you’re probably not getting what you need from the team leaders. I played with the greatest player in the game and you didn’t hear him talking about leadership. You heard him going out and showing leadership and showing that he was a winning player. I don’t think any of our guys need to talk about that anymore, about leadership. I think they need to show it.”

Paxson on change: “It’s obvious this roster isn’t going to be exactly the same coming back. We have to make some changes. What we have to do is determine that path, whether it’s through trades, free agency, draft, all those type of things.”

Paxson on Noah: “Jo’s an unrestricted free agent, as is Pau. We’ve got several of those on our roster. A lot of that, this is up to them. We are going to sit down with Jo obviously, his agent, and talk and see. Anyone who has been around us, anybody who has spoken to either Gar or I about Joakim, they know how we feel about him. He represents a lot of things that we believe in. To me, he’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever been around in this business, as far as people go. So we have an affinity for Jo. But we’ve got to talk, we’ve got to see where it goes.”

Paxson on priority: “Anybody who knows me knows I’ll go down with the group that fights before I’ll go down with the group that doesn’t. We need more of those type of guys. I told the guys in the locker room, I spoke in December to them, and we had played the Clippers in a home game, and it was a game where Blake Griffin took Taj down on a really hard foul. And Taj took a fall, and what I saw that night was a team that didn’t really rally to his defense. Blake Griffin was kicked out of that game, and our guys didn’t stand up to that. Then when we had some of these bad losses where we had leads at home – against Phoenix comes to mind – again, you start thinking about the little things that really could’ve determined us not being here tonight and playing in the playoffs. They were kind of little episodes, but they were huge in the grand scheme of things. So it’s something that the urgency–that’s a good word–the urgency wasn’t there consistently enough.”

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Bulls executives address team's present and future

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