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Chicago Bulls: 5 Best NBA Draft classes of the GarPax Era

By Garrett Brooks

Ben Gordon, and Loul Deng. #9 of the Chicago Bulls combined for 61 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 14, 2008 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bulls defeated the Bucks 151-135. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agreees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Ben Gordon, and Loul Deng. #9 of the Chicago Bulls combined for 61 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 14, 2008 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bulls defeated the Bucks 151-135. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agreees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Chicago Bulls
Gar Forman, John Paxson Chicago Bulls.(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Bulls are happily moved on from the front office of yesteryear and appear to be on the right track moving forward. Arturas Karnisovas leads the way as the team’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and works closely with Marc Eversley, the General Manager.

The duo has brought new hope to many Bulls fans. Especially those that had grown frustrated with the old front office that took too long to be moved on from.

Obviously, we’re talking about the front office led by the combination of John Paxson and Gar Forman. Although Paxson began his high-level position in the organization many years earlier than Forman, the two will forever be linked.

They are linked to some amazing moments and teams in recent Bulls history. They also had their fair share of critics as the years wore on, and a lot of the critique was at least somewhat reasonable.

Being a full year moved on from their departure, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the positives from the Garpax era. Specifically, positive draft classes under their leadership.

Related Story. Players the Bulls could have Selected Instead of Denzel Valentine. light

For this exercise, we will consider all draft classes from the year Paxson became the man in charge (2003) to the year both Paxson and Forman were removed from their high-level positions (2019).

Although Forman didn’t become the team’s General Manager until 2009, he had been working within the team’s front office since 1998 when he was hired as a scout. For a number of reasons, GarPax will forever be tied together when people look back at the era of Bulls basketball from 2003-2019.

Things ended worse than they probably should have and that may cause people to overlook all the good things they did in their years calling the shots. More recently it was clear to everyone change was needed but they were kept around, which you can’t blame them for.

That is why we are going to rank the top five NBA Draft classes from the GarPax era. 17 Drafts to choose from. Some excellent, some simply poorly executed. Here are the top five draft classes from the GarPax era.

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