Bulls Waive Goodbye to Tim Thomas
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Mar 3, 2006 12:30AM
Tim, we hardly knew ya. Sent home just days into the season by Bulls management, they finally waived Thomas on Wednesday after they were unable to work out a trade prior to the trading deadline.
Thomas played in just 3 games for the Bulls following his acquisition by the Bulls as part of the Eddy Curry deal. The Bulls were primarily interested in his expiring contract, and when he sensed he wasn't part of the Bulls long-term plans he decided his $13 million salary wasn't enough motivation to actually try. Rather than let that bad attitude rub off on their roster of young, hard working players they felt it was best to send him home.
Chicagoist still questions how we ever ended up with him in the first place? Antonio Davis was in the final year of a contract paying him $13,975,000. Thomas was in the final year of a deal and earning $13,925,000. So their contract statuses were basically a wash. And since the Bulls were hoping that the Knicks would waive Davis immediately so they could re-sign him, they clearly wanted him to remain on the team. Why not just leave those two out of the deal?
Was John Paxon the only GM ever taken advantage of by Isiah Thomas? This is the guy who oversees the team that amazingly has the highest payroll and the worst record in the NBA. This is the same GM who may have actually created conditions conducive to forming a black hole right here on Earth with the combination of Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford on the same roster at the same time. And he's also the guy who bought and bankrupted the entire CBA a few years back. Clearly, John Paxon wouldn't have let Isiah outsmart him, would he? Yet that's how it looks to us.
Thank goodness for the Knick's on-court ineptitude. At least the first-round draft pick the Bulls received is just about a lock to be in the top 3. Because other than that, all we've got to show for trading Eddy Curry is Michael Sweetney...
Image via NBA.com