The Chicago Bulls are fighting tooth and nail to try to avoid going back-to-back seasons without making the playoffs, but even with their struggles, the team’s ownership reportedly isn’t looking to make any changes.
According to a report by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, the jobs of team president John Paxson and G.M. Gar Forman are safe, and even missing the playoffs wouldn’t be enough to oust either man from their job.
“Despite some outside perception to the contrary, the jobs of executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman are safe, sources familiar with ownership’s thinking told the Tribune. In fact, ownership’s trust in Paxson and Forman remains so intact that they would be retained even if the Bulls miss the postseason for a second straight season, one source said.”
Johnson’s report jibes with an earlier report that hinted that the Bulls are unwilling to engineer a full-scale teardown and rebuild of the organization because of concerns about drops in attendance and revenue. As things stand now, the Bulls have the best attendance in the NBA despite their struggles, and with marquee players like Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade on the roster, it’s easy to see why.
Even still, the Bulls have a lot of work to do if they’re going to get back into the conversation among the NBA’s elite teams. Their current record stands at 26-26, leaving them three and a half games out of the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and two games ahead of Detroit for the final playoff spot.
