John Paxson's Perseverance Rewarded

This week, Chicago Bulls fans were dragged through an emotional temptation festival by the local and national media as trade rumors surrounding the Bulls were all over.

One of the more popular, both with the media and fans, was a scenario (a few actually) in which the Bulls would receive Amar'e Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns.

But, after over a week of pundits throwing stuff against the wall, Bulls GM John Paxson didn't pull the trigger on a deal for Stoudemire.

Instead, he made a few relatively small deals, unloading heavy contracts for some players that not only come off the books in the next year and a half, but players that should help the Bulls compete in this season and the next.

As the trade deadline passed on Thursday at 2 PM Central, local sports talk radio blasted Paxson for not making the big deal. Fans called in all day yelling at hosts because of the need for a superstar to run with Derrick Rose.

What did the fans get? Brad Miller, John Salmons, Tim Thomas (again), and Jerome James.

That's it.

On Friday, less than 36 hours after Paxson "lost out" on Stoudemire, the Phoenix media broke the news that Stoudemire would be gone for at least eight weeks, if not the rest of the season, with a detached retina.

Wow.

Proposed deals would have sent Tyrus Thomas, Thabo Sefalosha, draft picks, maybe Kirk Hinrich, maybe Larry Hughes, and maybe Drew Gooden out the door for Stoudemire. If the Bulls had made a deal, it would have stripped them of a significant portion of the team's talent for the chance to put a big man next to Rose for a year and a half, maybe longer, maybe not.

And now, with the aid of 20/20 hindsight, we can all sigh and say, "Nice job, Pax."

While Paxson has been blasted, and rightfully so, for not making deals for big names in the past (and I'm not referring to the Kobe Bryant rumors of a year ago, there was nothing behind those), this time he didn't miss the boat.

Stoudemire has a history of both eye and knee issues, and the latest problem might alter the future of the Suns' franchise.

Paxson's insight keeps the Bulls in contention for the playoffs, under the salary cap, while not bringing in a player that's now done for the year.