NBA: Dead Man Walking in Chicago
Ever since the Bulls inexplicably spit the bit and blew a 35-point second half lead to the Kings last Monday the prevailing opinion seemed to be a matter of when and not if head coach Vinny Del Negro would be fired. The Vinny Death Watch is now on day seven and since then the Bulls have lost to the lowly Knicks and knocked off the disappointing Hornets.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard writes that the decision to fire Del Negro has already been made and the hold up is a matter of who should take over the team for the balance of the season. Apparently the only thing the Bulls have decided in regards to their coaching situation is they do not want to elevate an assistant like Bernie Bickerstaff or Pete Myers to the position, and VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson does not want to coach the team.
The fact that Del Negro has not been fired makes one wonder if the Bulls are struggling with how they want to manage the rest of the season. The hesitance to simply elevate an assistant and regroup next summer makes one wonder if the Bulls think they can still make a post season run with the right guy at the helm. They certainly have the talent to do so, they did take the Celtics to seven games in the first round of the playoffs last summer, and there are those who thought the Bulls were a disappointment last season.
The thing is, though, what are you hurting by firing the coach and elevating an assistant for a week or so until you decide who will take the reins for the remainder of the season? If you think the team still has a shot at doing something in the postseason you cannot have the specter of Vinny Del Negro hanging over the team’s head. If the decision has been made to cut him loose, then cut him loose. Don’t leave the team in limbo wondering if or when it is going to happen, that is, if you truly believe the season is a salvageable one.
With a dynamic point guard like Derrick Rose on the roster anything is possible, but, one begins to wonder if this team is missing Ben Gordon. Without Gordon on the roster the Bulls lack that scorer who wants the ball in the fourth quarter and wants to take the shots when the game is on the line. Without Gordon the Bulls do not have that dynamic back court mate to take the pressure off of Rose.
If you are Paxson do you go out and do what it takes to find a scoring guard to help take the pressure off of Luol Deng and Rose to be the primary scorer, or, do you tank the season, hope to get an elite pick in the lottery, or hedge your bets that you can land a 20 point per game scorer in the free agent market next summer? One wonders if this is what Paxson is struggling with more so than who the coach should be.
If Paxson thinks he can go out and land a scorer before the deadline then maybe it is worth it to hire an established coach rather than elevate an assistant and go on cruise control the rest of the way. Does one in Paxson’s situation role the dice on a guy like Tracy McGrady whose contract is up after the season, who can probably be had fairly cheaply, and who is dying to show that he still has something left in the tank?
The upside to playing for a lottery pick is you have that opportunity to take a player like John Wall. Just imagine a back court of Wall and Rose. The only question there would be whether they could figure out how to share the ball. The downside of next year’s lottery is it is expected to be heavy on power forward talent and the Bulls seem to really like the potential of rookie Taj Gibson as their power forward. As it stands today there is not expected to be a bevy of dynamic scoring talent in next year’s draft that is adept at creating their own shot off the dribble.
The other key factor is whether or not there are any seasoned coaches who are interested in the Chicago job. Byron Scott and Lawrence Frank are being mentioned, but, are they ready to jump right back into a job this season? They did, after all, get fired for a reason, and they may be more interested in recharging their batteries before jumping back into it. Scott would be an intriguing hire as he has coached the likes of Chris Paul and Jason Kidd who both took Scott-coached teams deep into the playoffs.
In addition to Scott, Avery Johnson, and Sam Mitchell are all former coaches of the year who are currently without coaching jobs. I would like to see them make a run at Avery Johnson. He did get the Mavs to the NBA Finals and I always thought he got a bit of a raw deal in Dallas. Sure the Mavs took a bit of a step back in the ’07-’08 season but it is not like they were any better the following year under Rick Carlisle.
No matter how one slices it though, John Paxson needs to cut Del Negro loose now rather then let it bubble under the surface. You run the risk of losing your team and fans now that the cat is out of the bag. Fire Del Negro and promote Bernie Bickerstaff, or take the bench yourself, until you make a decision as to what direction you want the team to move in going forward. There is nothing that says whoever takes Del Negro’s spot has to be there for the remainder of the season.
