Chicago Bulls: Cameron Payne’s demotion highlights bad front office moves
In a season full of them, Cameron Payne‘s demotion is another example of the Chicago Bulls failed moves.
On Monday the Chicago Bulls announced that they demoted Cameron Payne to the NBA Developmental League. Payne struggled since coming to Chicago in a trade deadline transaction. The second-year point guard shot just 33.9 percent and had 15 assists to 13 turnovers while averaging 6.0 points per game.
Payne was the main player in that deal that sent Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a second-round pick to the Oklahoma Thunder. The Thunder also sent Anthony Morrow and Joffrey Lauvergne to Chicago.
Payne was the 14th overall pick in the 2015 draft. Backing up superstar Russell Westbrook, he saw very little playing time.
To make matters worse, Payne also experienced pain in his right foot which he fractured twice and had surgery on it.
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Things aren’t looking good for the Bulls at the moment when it comes to this move. In a season full of them, this appears to be another failed move by the front office. After promising fans that the Bulls would get younger and more athletic, team Vice-President John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman promptly went out and gave a mega multi-year contract to Dwyane Wade and a multi-year contract to Rajon Rondo. In addition, they already had to send 2016 first-round draft pick Denzel Valentine to the D-league earlier in the season.
How much more can Bulls fans continue to take? They’ve gone from contenders to laughingstock in the course of just two seasons. There was a public blowup between Wade and Jimmy Butler and the rest of the players. There were also reports that Butler and other players suspected the front office spied on them by using one of the assistant coaches.
This team has no life to it, no direction. There appears to be no concrete plan for the future. The main word you hear to describe them is “disarray.”
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As more failures pile up, owner Jerry Reinsdorf continues to show support for GarPax. These two guys show time and again that they do not deserve that support. As long as they feel they are safe, we’ll continue to see a circus-like atmosphere at the United Center.