It’s been well over two years now since the contemptible nickname “GarPax” has pervaded the minds of Chicago Bulls‘ fans. As the head honchos leading Chicago’s front office, the duo of John Paxson and Gar Forman wasted over a decade of incredible basketball talent with their abysmal managerial skills. Now that the two are out of the picture and the Bulls have returned to their winning ways of years past, now is a good time to revisit just what happened to the members of the GarPax era Bulls after their dismissal from the team.
For the sake of this trip to the past, we’ll be focusing on the 2018-19 Chicago Bulls roster, since it’s the one that in my opinion represented those grim tanking years the best. The Bulls would post a miserable 22-60 record that year, making it Chicago’s worst performance since 2002 and the fifth-worst season in 57 years of franchise history.
That year was the year we saw head coach Fred Hoiberg get fired and the United Center see a historic drop in attendance. When attendance and jersey sales finally started to affect his bottom line, owner Jerry Reinsdorf finally paid attention to the front office malpractice going on in his team and fast-tracked an evaluation of GarPax that would ultimately conclude with the pair being let go in 2020.
It’s only been two years since the Chicago Bulls released managerial duo GarPax, but the casualties of their tenure have already started piling up.
Given that we’re focusing in on the 2018-19 campaign, that means any player that joined the roster in the last three seasons does not qualify as a “GarPax-era” player. That includes Coby White, who was drafted by GarPax but only played one season under their not-so-watchful eye.
That season was also Jim Boylen’s first as head coach of the team, an unfortunate experiment that makes Billy Donovan look less of a notorious playoff choker and more like an angel sent from the heavens. Boylen would be released after less than two seasons with the Bulls after posting an embarrassing 39-84 record and the second-worst winning percentage of any head coach (who coached for at least 100 games) in Chicago Bulls history.
Boylen may no longer be associated with the team, but the stench he and GarPax left in their wake has persisted as the Bulls work their way back towards a respectable position in the NBA.
These former Chicago Bulls players highlighted the failures of the GarPax regime.
Kris Dunn
Once a top-five draft pick and prized piece of the Chicago Bulls’ attempt at a post-Jimmy Butler rebuild, Kris Dunn has fallen from grace in recent years. He’s bounced around the league ever since the Bulls decided to not extend his contract, including stops in Atlanta, Boston, Portland, and the G League. Dunn has only played 17 games in the two years since leaving Chicago, and is currently still a free agent. Given that his offense never caught up to his incredible defensive prowess, it’s hard to envision a place for him in today’s NBA.
Chandler Hutchison
Although frequently likened to being a “Baby Scottie Pippen” by fans, Chandler Hutchison would never even come close to making good on those comparisons. He’d be traded away while still on his rookie contract after two and a half extremely lackluster seasons before earning the ire of fans with a controversial video he posted on Tik Tok. Ironically, he’d be traded and waived once more just a few months later. Hutchison only played in 22 total garbage time minutes last season and now plays in the G League with very little chance at making a return to the big leagues.
Cristiano Felicio
One year of easy lob opportunities at the rim courtesy of Rajon Rondo and Dwayne Wade, and suddenly you’re a $32 million man. Cristiano Felicio never had the makings of a real NBA player, but was propped up by veteran talent just long enough to fool Chicago’s front office (and the fanbase, even though most wouldn’t admit it) to secure his bag.
Felicio has never played a minute in the NBA for any team other than the Bulls and never will. He provided his fair share of frustrating moments back in the day, but time heals all and has allowed us the opportunity to revel in his lowlights and continue rooting for the loveable loser in his international career over in Germany with Ratiopharm Ulm.
Antonio Blakeney
Antonio’s Blakeney claim to fame with the Bulls came in the 2018-19 season when he notoriously averaged more shots per game than passes. That level of hyper-selfish helped Blakeney win the NBA G League Rookie of the Year award in 2017-18, averaging a ridiculous 32 points and 6.6 rebounds. Of course, that hype never translated to the NBA where Blakeney posted just 7.5 points per game and 40.6% shooting from the field with the Bulls.
Things took a turn for the worst in 2021, when Blakeney was arrested on armed robbery charges. That was the effective end of his NBA career, and he’s taken to playing internationally in Bahrain, China, and Israel ever since.
Jabari Parker
Given how the fanbase has treated Derrick Rose, Ayo Dosunmu, and even temporary role players like Walt Lemon Jr., it’s clear that we all have a collective soft spot for the hometown kid. Just like Derrick, Jabari Parker was a product of Simeon and a high school star, and should have had all that going for him too. The Bulls offered Parker $20 million, a starting role, and essentially every opportunity to bounce back from a devastating ACL injury. He returned the favor by allowing himself to get out of shape and delivering the infamous line, “They don’t pay players to play defense”.
His poor attitude ruined any shot he had at returning to being a premiere player in the NBA, as evidenced by the fact none of the four teams he’s played for since have kept him around for more than even half a season. Parker has remained a free agent for the last seven months and saw no suitors during the offseason, likely closing the last chapter on his playing days in the NBA.
This group of players began to thrive after being released from the grip of a GarPax-led front office.
Zach LaVine
Although the 2018-19 season was just four seasons ago, Zach LaVine is the lone remnant of the true GarPax-era still on the Bulls today. He’s also the only player from those teams that played well enough to stick around, and play well he most certainly did. LaVine has averaged 24.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on excellent shooting splits in his five years in Chicago, earning every penny of his record-breaking $215 million extension along the way.
While it may seem like a no-brainer to have kept LaVine around given his performance, GarPax does deserve some small credit among their heap of failures for keeping him around in the first place. When Sacramento offered LaVine a $78 million deal in restricted free agency, the consensus opinion was one of that being a massive overpay. GarPax ended up doubling down and matched the offer sheet in what would end up becoming one of the highest-value contracts in the NBA.
Bobby Portis
Bobby Portis is a prime example of a great player the previous regime let slip through their fingers, as the Bulls traded him away for a lackluster package involving the oft-injured Otto Porter Jr. Portis played very well for Chicago while on his rookie contract, but the front office was not interested in inking the big man to a long-term extension. Instead, he earned a big role with Milwaukee where he’d make his home and become a beloved fan favorite en route to winning an NBA championship in 2021.
Wendell Carter Jr.
Similar to the aforementioned Portis, the Chicago Bulls traded Wendell Carter in an attempt to avoid paying him a hefty extension. Although the new front office pulled the trigger on this trade, the roster construction GarPax put around Wendell is largely to blame for why his trade value was so low in the first place.
Carter Jr. had a career year in Orlando last season and ended up signing a very team-friendly deal, leaving the Bulls wondering what could have been had GarPax put the right pieces around Wendell in the first place.
Otto Porter Jr.
I may not have been the biggest advocate for the Otto Porter Jr. trade at the time, largely because I felt the Bulls were missing out on something special in Portis, but it did have its merits on paper. As the former No. 3 overall pick in 2013, Porter Jr. showed glimpses of extreme potential, but could never manage to stay on the court long enough to make a huge impact for the Bulls. After joining Golden State, however, the Warriors effectively load-managed OPJ in a bench role and he (like Portis) ended up playing a big part in their 2022 NBA championship run.
Cameron Payne
By the time Cameron Payne had reached the end of his time in a Bulls uniform, many fans were quite confident in their beliefs that he was in fact one of the worst players to ever suit up for this historic franchise. As much as I wish it were, that is no exaggeration. I imagine much of this animosity stems from the fact Payne was the prize of a trade that sent the beloved Taj Gibson to OKC.
Still, Payne beat all the odds and has become an integral part of the Phoenix Suns ever since, even helping the team make an NBA Finals appearance and going toe-to-toe with LeBron James himself.