Come To Think of It: Bulls GM John Paxson Should Fire Del Negro...Then Himself

When asked to give his head coach a vote of confidence on a Chicago radio station recently, Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson declined, saying he was only interested in critiquing himself.

And he admitted he had not done a very good job.

Well, I and many other Bulls fans concur with that self-assessment. And with the rejection of the vote of confidence for Del Negro.

Vinny Del Negro was an odd choice to begin with. When Paxson named him to succeed the fiery, volatile Scott Skiles, who either gave up on the team or was fired (depending on whom you believe), one would have thought that the Bulls were an attractive team for a prospective coach.

I mean, they were just one year (2006-2007) removed from a 49-win season, a second round foray into the playoffs, and they had the first overall pick in the upcoming draft.

You can certainly understand Paxson's first choice, Doug Collins, wanting no part of this assignment. But you would have figured they could have gotten Mike D'Antoni, who signed with the Knicks after the Bulls refused to pay him what he wanted.

Meanwhile, the Bulls settled for a guy with no previous head coaching experience.

And the young Bulls team has basically walked all over Del Negro. There has been more disrespect from players than even Rodney Dangerfield ever experienced.

And there has been plenty of losing this season.

While there appears to be some solid assistant coaches working with Del Negro, you have to worry about the affect all this negativity will have on the young phenom Derrick Rose, who is clearly the guy the Bulls will build around.

Then again, what do you expect from Vinny Del Negro, a guy who once played for a team in Italy named Balogna?

Selfish veterans like Larry Hughes, and immature babies like Tyrus Thomas and Joaqim Noah, hopefully haven't poisoned the waters around which Rose is learning to swim.  

But to avoid taking that chance, I wouldn't wait for the remainder of the season to play out before ending the misery for Del Negro. I would fire him at mid-season, though the Bulls will likely wait.

If he makes the move, John Paxson has to take a long, hard look inside his soul and think about whether he is truly cut out for this job. So far the results say no. 

Paxson is by all accounts a decent man. And, of course, he was a nice ballplayer who contributed to some of the Bulls' championship runs. But, that doesn't mean he is the right man to lead the Chicago Bulls.

So, sayonara Vinny...and auf widersehen, Pax. Sorry it didn't work out. But don't let the door hit you on the way out.