Ben Gordon appeared on ESPN First Take to discuss him signing with the Pistons. Here is a recap of what he said in the interview.

• The Bulls didn’t pursue him much once free agency started.  Once free agency started, Detroit showed him the most interest.
• Him and Charlie Villanueva visited together, and right form the jump, they realized that Detroit was the place to be.
• It is accurate that the Bulls never made an offer.
• He is not sure why the Bulls never made an offer.  It is what it is.  He’s moving on and happy with his decision.
• He wasn’t surprised that Chicago didn’t make an offer,after how things went the last two summers.  His whole goal this offseason was to get things wrapped up and move on from this issue.  It just so happened that the team he was most excited about palying for also pursued him the hardest.
• He would probably choose Detroit over Chicago, even if the Bulls had made an offer.
• His decision was about winning, not about money.  It was about trying to put himself in a position to win a ring.  Just watching Joe Dumars over the years and how he assembled teams, Ben thinks he is one of the best, if not the best, at putting together a team full of guys who can really play.  Trying to compete for a championship is definitely one of his priorities.
• It was fun having Charlie there.  It reminded him of when Charlie came for his recruiting trip to UConn.  Kind of like the same thing all over again.  He has known Charlie since they were 12 and 13, playing basketball in Detroit.
• He is not going to ask Joe Dumars to let him wear #4, which is retired for Dumars.  He is going to stick with #7 in Detroit.  It’s a coincidence that his old number is  retired wherever he goes.

Chris Broussard appeared on ESPN to discuss the Pistons’ surprise firing of their coach, Michael Curry and as well as the Pistons’ free agency plans.

Broussard said that the Pistons like Ben Gordon and that he is high on their radar. Gordon is telling people close to him that he thinks the Pistons will offer him $11 million a year. Gordon wants to stay in Chicago. As long as they’re offering him anything close to what the Pistons are offering him, he will stay in Chicago.

This news is great. Chicago’s outlook to becoming a great team looks a lot better than Detroit’s, and Chicago is a much nicer city than Detroit. Gordon will also not have to deal with the process of moving to another city and re-situating himself.

The Bulls should offer Gordon something in that ball park. That’s a $2 million more a year than they offered Gordon last year, but it’s not an exorbitant amount for a player of Gordon’s caliber.

John Paxson appeared on Monsters in the Morning to discuss a lengthy list of topics regarding the Chicago Bulls.  Here is a recap of what was said in the interview.

• The trade deadline passed and Paxson is still here, therefore the rumors weren’t true.  Paxson is always going to be loyal to the Bulls.  As long as Jerry wants to keep him around, he will be here.  Will always have some position in the organization.
• The job is getting bigger and bigger.  You don’t just have a GM, you have other people who carry a lot of responsibilities.  Gar Forman is the player personnel director.  Irwin Mandel has been the cap guy for years.
• The league is going in a different direction.  There are some issues that the league is going to be facing in the next year or two.  The star players are always going to get paid waht they deserve.  In the last CBA, the average player got paid more than they probably should have.  The MLE has probably ballooned some salaries.  These are some things in the next CBA that might be addressed.
• When you have to make a deal, you’re matching salaries.  You have to take on a player you maybe don’t want to in order to make the deal.  Lots of things prohibit trades, such as trade kickers.
• Lots of teams dancing under the tax.  The teams under the tax receive a portion of the tax money from the teams that are over and pay.  There are a lot of teams out there that are losing money.  He doesn’t care how much money certain owners have, you don’t want to conduct your business in a manner where you lose money.
• Gets emotional when he sees the team play and that’s why he can never coach.  He gets frustrated with himself and everybody, but that’s in the moment of watching the game.  He doesn’t get frustrated with individuals, but how they play as a group.  Would like for the Bulls to compete hard every night, defend, and share and move the ball better.
• He thinks that they are a better team than they were 2 weeks ago.  John Salmons is a very good player.  Their pro personnel guy was on him all year.  They took on a little more money next year to make it happen.  Going to be looking to sign some free agents or make some trades, pointing out Tyson Chandler getting traded.
• It was Paxson, not Skiles, who made the decision to send Tim Thomas home last time.  Thomas had a personal issue with his wife in an acident.  Just made the decision, since Thomas was in the last year of his deal, that they were just going to use him as a trade chip at the deadline, and play the young players, that Thomas should stay home.  So far, Thomas has been great.
• All players get a little antsy at the trade deadline, more so now than ever.  Back in his day they didn’t have the internet.  Now when these rumors come up, they have their friends and agents calling them.  He doesn’t know how it doesn’t affect them.
• Luol Deng had an MRI yesterday and it came back negative.  He’s day to day.  He was battling the injury for awhile and was wearing a sleeve on his shin.  He felt something a little bit different when he came down in the Houston game.  The X-ray showed what could have possibly been a line.  The MRI showed it being soft tissue.  Stress fractures take a little time to show up, so the Bulls are going to monitor it.  They won’t know for awhile.
• Talks to Vinny Del Negro about things.  It’s a team game, bt Derrick Rose is a big part of what they’re going to be doing in the future.  They have discussed some of the end of game playing time issues.  In Houston, Rose played and was phenomenal.  He’s going to have some successes and failures.  Even Michael Jordan missed some shots once in awhile.  Rose has to be in there to continually learn.
• Paxson has a very good relationship with Del Negro and they are on the same page.  The whole purpose is to help Vinny and maybe offer thoughts that he hasn’t had.  They knew when they gave Vinny the job that he never coached before, so he was going to make mistakes.  That’s the reason why they got him a really veteran staff to help him organize practice and game situations.  Vinny has a very open mind about everything.  He’s learning that the hard part when you’re on the outside is you have so many ideas, but you can’t implement them all.  For him, less is more.  When he just focuses on a few things, what he wants to be as a coach, that will come in time.
• Young guys need consistent minutes.  Right now, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas are getting consistent minutes and now they’re seeing who those players are.  Getting some real consistency out of them.  Thought that Joakim Noah played very well at the end of last year, but was set back this year with a couple injuries.
• Does not fall in love with the guys that he drafts.  Everybody istalked about in trade talks.  He just doesn’t want to make a bad trade.  Lots of times he talked about certain players, the trades made absolutely no sense to him.
• The Kobe Bryant thing came about from a youtube video where the Bulls got mentioned.  With Paul Gasol, the Bulls didn’t have the expiring contracts that Memphis wanted.  With Kevin Garnett, look at what Minnesota got for Garnett in Al Jefferson, and Paxson says he’d be pretty happy if he was them.
• Ben Gordon knows that Derrick Rose is a great point guard.  Gordon is such a unique player, he can help you win games by putting the ball in the basket.
• Would love to see the ball in Derrick Rose’s hands off of rebounds.  Thinks that they will be a better running team with some of the moves they made.  Thinks that it’s evolving, the mindset always looking for Derrick on the outlets and getting the other guys to run.
• The league changed the contact rules and that’s why you see so much of the screen and roll action because you really can’t do anything to contain a good point guard’s speed.  The mantra in the league office is freedom of movement.  The new game evolved from the game getting too physical and also from scoring going into the low 90’s.
• The Bulls will not be active in this summers free agent market.  Starting to position themselves to have some flexibility for 2010.  Hard to get the good players to leave their own team since they can make significantly more money with their own team.  Don’t see the great players moved that often.  Lots of it has to do with whether they’re winning.
• The Bulls still need an inside scorer.
• Thinks that Rose can be the go to guy.  Thinks the Bulls need more than one though.  Derrick’s getting that midrange shot because of his ability to drive to the basket.  It’s not a signature shot, but that little floater in the lane is effective for Rose.
• 72% of fans said No to question, “Should John Paxson resign as GM?”
• Paxson’s son Ryan told his mom that he was joining the marines before him.  He waited to tell John until after the trade deadline, and wrote down his intentions for his father.
• Most of the players who don’t get iit don’t have the right counsel around them.  Paxson is in the best interest of the players, but a lot of times the players think that management is out to hurt them.  There is a natural conflict between agents and management.  Some great relationships with agents.  Some not so great relationships with agents when things get unrealistic or you can’t do anything, things can get pretty heated.  The dollars have gotten so big and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
• Thinks that Mike D’Antoni felt a little bit underappreciated in Phoenix.  New York threw so much money at him, that we all would ahve taken that offer over night.
• Norm Van Lier was a unique character.  He was a tough minded, hard playing guy.  Listening to him was the treat.  He would tell it like it is.  It was all born out of that he wanted the Bulls to do well.  Just really sad that he went so unexpectedly.
• Johnny Red Kerr was sick for a long time.  Insiders knew how bad he was.  He lived every day and had a lot of fun.
• Paxson was only bothered by the booing at Johnny Red Kerr’s ceremony because of what the night represtented.
• Michael Jordan was once playing blackjack against the entire team on a plane trip.  John was betting like $5 while the other guys were betting big money.

Steve Kerr appeared on TNT’s pregame show for the Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat to discuss the state of the Phoenix Suns.  Here is a recap of what he had to say:

• They are listening to people because they’re an underachieving team.  Have to figure out a way to get better and be successful going forward.  May not do anything, but are listening.  Just have a very glamarous team, so people are talking about them.
• Knew they were gambling when they made the trade for Shaq.  He thinks there is some honor when gambling when you have a chance.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out.
• They are trying to just make the playoffs before they think about winning it all.  They feel that they have some pieces that can get them to that place.  Thinks they looked really good right after the Jason Richardson trade.
• Ultimately, the GM is to blame.  He is the ultimate person responsible, then everyone else plays a part in it.  The team could be coached better and the players could be playing better.  If the mix isn’t right than that’s the GM’s responsibility.
• They know they can score regardless of how they play.  The weakness is at the defensive end.  They tried to make that a point of emphasis, but they haven’t gotten better.

Jerry Reinsdorf appeared on Monsters in the Morning and discussed the Chicago Bulls. Here is what he had to say:

• When talking about the White Sox, Reinsdorf said that he is not concerned with making money, he just doesn’t want to lose money.
• Reinsdorf doesn’t know whether Vinny is signed for a two year deal with an option year or a three year contract.  He thinks it is a three year contract.
• His grade for the Bulls this season up to this day is the lowest grade possible.  This season is an embarrassment and disaster.  But it will get better.
• John Paxson will not let this situation continue.
• You win or you lose as an organization.  John Paxson is the one person not responsible for what is happening.  Paxson is a great general manager and great judge of talent.
• Has a lot of thoughts on whether the players are not being coached up or not, but he can’t say them publicly.
• The team was mailing it in at in some point in the season.  They are not mailing it in anymore and playing hard.
• Has one great player in Derrick Rose.  Had one great player in Michael Jordan when he got involved with the Bulls.  When the Bulls won their first championship, Jordan was the only player left from Reinsdorf’s original team.  Going forward, the team will bring in players that can feed off of Derrick Rose.
• Will not take changing 11 players.  Thinks the team has some pretty good players on the team.  Just need to find an inside presence.

When Reinsdorf talked about it being an organizational failure and not a John Paxson failure, he may have been trying to shift some of the blame on himself. This is particularly evident when he calls Paxson a great evaluator of talent. Here, he is likely talking about Paxson’s great eye in talent for tapping out Mike D’Antoni to coach the Bulls.

You can listen to the interview here.

John Paxson appeared on the Chicago Bulls pregame show on Comcast Sportsnet to talk about the state of the team and the possibility of trades. Here is what he had to say:

• Doesn’t want to make any excuses for the team, but not having everybody has hurt the team.  However, lots of teams are in that situation.
• Have been losing the games on the defensive end.  Has talked to Vinny about it and Vinny has begun addressing it more and more.  Team needs to communicate more on defense.
• The team is overloaded with small guys and that problem will be compounded when Kirk comes back.  Guys are not happy with the minutes they get because they’re competitive and want to play.  Can’t do anything about the situation.  The team is overloaded with wings and guards.
• Does not want to make a trade that haelps balance the roster now if it means taking on a contract that doesn’t make sense in the long term.
• The guys who are best equipped to help the team win will play.  (Correcting himself).  Actually, those who help the team defend will play.
• The younger players worry about being traded more than the older players.  Nothing the players can do about it, so they just have to go out and play.
• Everyone in the league talks all the time.  He never knows if he’s close to a deal until he agrees on the trade with the other GM.  Lots of talk going on, but who knows if a trade will get done.

As usual, Paxson managed to say pretty much nothing.  To sum the interview up quickly, the Bulls are playing badly, their defensive stinks, they may or may not make a trade, and there is nothing Paxson can do to fix the backcourt situation.