Souces: Bulls VP Paxson shoved Del Negro

[duncan228]

Updated.

...Stern added he will talk to the Chicago Bulls’ representative to the board to get a better idea of what happened between coach Vinny Del Negro and vice president John Paxson. Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday that Paxson shoved Del Negro twice in the chest and had to be restrained in a confrontation over Joakim Noah’s minutes after a March 30 home game against Phoenix.

“If it happened—if it happened—it’s not something that should and we’ll be talking to Chicago about that,” said Stern, who couldn’t predict if there would be any league punishment.

“I don’t have our entire list of what we’ve done, but my guess is over the years we have taken action of some kind if teams engage in conduct that’s detrimental to the league,” Stern said. “I want to understand better, exactly how detrimental this was and what actually occurred.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...restingplayers

[ChrisRichards]

What's wrong is the foolish notion that keeping an expensive maybe top-75 player in the NBA is better than clearing space and making a run at FAs. .

I cant help you if you cant pick up things quickly.

The Bulls have under $20 million in capspace after trading John Salmons for two expiring contracts. It is enough to sign a Superstar (Most likely Bosh) and another solid rotation player.

That's incredibly stupid, especially when you have such a strong in with a top FA in Wade and he gives you a strong in with another top FA and area of need in Amare..

You dont get it.

With the looming issues with capspace and the CBA rules in discussion, Reinsdorf is not going to sign 2 MAX Contracts and pay luxury tax with the annual raises of 8-10% that typically goes with this contracts. Teams like Chicago for one are reevaluating their spending plans in light of the declining cap, spending that once made sense now takes on a new level of risk. So again, Reinsdorf is not willing to absorb an ever increasing percentage of the Bulls total cap space to sign two max contract players with an increase of 8-10% per year in consideration.


The Bulls will try to sign Wade. If this fails then expect them to go after Bosh and if that does'nt go through then Joe Johnson and Amare. But they will never sign 2 max contracts for marquee players this summer.

Whether I have proof or not, Amare has overtly hinted at wanting to play with Wade if he goes elsewhere, and Wade has said he'd like to play for the Bulls, although each could just be posturing..

Amare hinted he wants to play with Wade when trade talks between Phoenix and Miami intensified last February. Stop trying to connect these invisible dots. None of these players have expressed they specifically want to play together Chicago.

Additionally, O'Neal has an expiring $23 million contract this season. thats more than enough for Miami to sign Amare if he really wants to join Wade.

Fact is, they now get to keep a 10+ million per year bench player to backup their best talent instead of cutting significant costs and making a run at being a le-contending team as early as next year.

The Bulls does not have a deadline to trade Hinrich this season. They can always recoup and hear better offers this offseason. Why are you so short sighted? , it seems like you think Chicago's 2010 plan is ruined just because they hold onto Hinrich for 2 more months. The Bulls have a plethora of options from a straight trade to a three way dea from teamsl willing to obtain Hinrich, and I guarantee the Bulls will get a better offer than Morrison.

[duncan228]

New Report Says Del Negro, Not Paxson, Picked Fight
SportingNews

Contradicting a report by Yahoo! Sports, ESPN.com reports Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was the man who initiated contact in a physical confrontation with executive vice president John Paxson on March 30.

Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday that Paxson grabbed Del Negro by the tie and poked him in the chest, seeming to challenge the coach to a fight because he exceeded playing time limits for Joakim Noah, who is battling plantar fasciitis, during a loss to the Suns.

However, a source close to the situation told ESPN.com that Del Negro picked the fight, and it wasn’t the first time he had clashed with a Bulls executive. The source said Del Negro had a similar altercation with GM Gar Forman, but he did not give details.

Del Negro declined to comment on the incident with Paxson after the Bulls’ win Tuesday over the Celtics. A win Wednesday over the Bobcats, or a Raptors loss to the Knicks, would send Chicago to the playoffs.

[JMarkJohns]

I get everything you said. I understood some issues entering. What you fail to understand is by keeping a 10+ million bench player, signing a MAX contract and a solid rotiation player, they are effectively paying the same money for lesser talent.

As for Reinsdorf, you pay the contracts while you can, get the best talent, then players like Deng can be traded in the future.

Rose, Wade, Amare, Noah

or

Rose, Hinrich, Deng, Boozer, Noah? And this team is likely to have to trade off Hinrich or Deng for similar cap reasons as you have mentioned, so in reality it's...

Rose, Deng, Boozer, Noah

Everything you have said still applies to whatever they are able to do going forward. I don't know why you don't see that. Maybe the long-term effect is less with this current plan, but there are options to remedy that down the road. Right now, the opportunity was there for Chicago to trot out a lineup of Rose, Wade, Deng, Amare, Noah with Vujacic, Johnson, Gibson and a 1st rounder off the bench.

Instead, they will be lucky to land Wade, or Bosh, or Amare, will likely have to settle for a second-tier MAX type like Boozer or Johnson, still have issues up front with the latter, and still be burdened by excessive contracts, only this time for lesser players.

[duncan228]

Bulls try to downplay Del Negro-Paxson spat
By Mike Cranston

The Chicago Bulls were trying to downplay last month’s confrontation between coach Vinny Del Negro and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson on Wednesday night as the regular season concluded.

In a statement released before their game at Charlotte that would determine if the Bulls made the playoffs, general manager Gar Forman confirmed there was an “internal disagreement” that was the result of each “expressing their passion” about the well-being of players and the desire to win.

Yahoo! Sports reported Paxson grabbed Del Negro’s tie and shoved him before being restrained by assistant coaches on in a dispute over forward Joakim Noah’s playing time after a game against Phoenix on March 30.

Noah, who was recovering from a foot injury, was having his minutes monitored. The report said Paxson was upset that Noah played too much in the game, which had become a long-running dispute with his coach.

“The event occurred in Coach Del Negro’s office, not in the locker room and not in front of the players, as some wrongly have reported,” Forman said. “This disagreement, while not communicated well by either party in the heat of the moment and in the immediate aftermath of a tough loss, was a result of conflicting views, but all based on the fine balance required to ensure both the immediate and long-term success of the team and the health of its players.”

ESPNChicago.com reported on Wednesday, citing an unidentified source, that it was Del Negro that initiated the physical contact in the incident. Del Negro vehemently denied that in his pregame media availability before the Bobcats game.

“That’s inaccurate. That’s 100 percent false,” Del Negro said. “But this thing is funny because you have guys that care, guys that are compe ive. It’s unfortunate that it had to come out, but the most important thing is to focus on the game tonight, the players and the effort that they’re putting in and all those things will take of themselves at the end of the season. Hopefully, that’s not for a while.”

Forman said they wouldn’t announce any disciplinary action until after the season. There had been widespread speculation before the report that Del Negro could be fired despite having another year left on his contract.

“The Bulls have a full and complete understanding of what took place, but, as requested by all parties, will address the attendant issues with the participants after the season is over,” Forman said. “At this point, everyone intends to keep focused on the remaining games.”