Peter Patton, director of player development, won't be back

[Hangtime84]

Only times I've seen Cowley be positive is at the beginning of person joining the organization.

[ChiTownHero1992]

I'm about done with this organization, Jerry is a joke of an owner, AKME have no idea how to do the job, Billy's style is laughable half the time, players that are beyond terrible keep getting paid. I guess the only good part is that I can just be done with the NBA in general as the league as a whole is a joke!

[The Box Office]

Was hoping it read "Billy Donovan won't be back"

[dougthonus]

You said fans were all upset about player development this year. Were they?

I don't think people say "I'm upset about player development", but I think plenty of people have said that players have not progressed, which IS player development.

And I just don’t track your logic on the rest of it anyway. Giddey came in and looked very questionable and ended up having the best season of his career by mile with improvements in the very areas he had been criticized for. Coby had an all-NBA run for basically two months and did it by playing differently, not just by getting hot. And Matas’ improvements were outstanding including in shooting which is why he slid in the draft. The importance of the Matas part cannot be overstated.

These are the only important and positive things that happened on the court this year. Patton was in charge of that. He got immediately fired.

Based on what we can know, this should be the type of thing fans question as highly illogical and counterproductive under the circumstances. AK being an incompetent douche makes it worse, but only in the way getting an extra serving of liver is worse. You’re still eating liver.

I don't think Coby has made incredible improvements, he was a 15.5 PER player this year. He sucked when playing with Zach and was fine once he was in the Zach role and he crushed a bunch of really bad teams. Giddey made iterative improvements, but isn't on some totally different path now. Pat absolutely cratered over the past two years, maybe Patton was the guy who put in the plan for him to bulk up and made him too slow, who knows?

Ayo has been up and down the past two years similar to the previous two. Jalen Smith cratered this year and looks like a bad contract after seeming like a promising signing. Matas was a rookie that had a typical year for a rookie in his position at the end of the day. Dalen Terry made small strides in the past two years relative to a guy his age, same with Philips (of course both guys may just suck).

I don't see anything special in what we have done developing guys, nor do I see anything awful really, as I've said many times before 90% of the development is on the player to me and not the coach. I'm not saying we had to get rid of Patton, just that I don't think it is all that meaningful to me, and I think if it weren't for people being pissed at AK, no one would care at all IMO.

So I disagree that fans should question this on its own merit. If you want to question it simply because AK did it, and he's a buffoon so everything he does is suspicious by default, I understand.

[TheSuzerain]

If this hurts AK's standing in the organization, then firing Patton is my favorite personnel move in years.

[Jcool0]

Sounds familiar:

Smith was then informed that his services in Dallas were no longer needed, ending a nearly two-decade tenure with the franchise. The reason for the dismissal centered on Smith being "too negative," according to sources briefed on the discussion who interpreted the vague reasoning to mean Smith wasn't enough of a yes-man.

Read on Twitter

[Peelboy]

On its face, this seems like scapegoating, although remains to be seen because if they upgrade, that would be fine. From my eye, there was development/improvement in Dalen, Phillips, Matas, even Giddey over the season with all showing improved shooting (which IIRC was Patton's strength).

That said, the clear issue is talent. Making Dalen into a contributing reserve along the lines of a 7th-8th man is great, it's still a complete waste of a #20 FRP. Phillips is a better example because he's a 2d rounder, which is more the kind of slot where developing a productive reserve is meaningful.

So this to me seems very much like (another) AK distraction from his own incompetence. His entire tenure is still basically idiocy that makes GarPax look like Jerry West. And when Patton didn't turn Dalen into Kawhi (and turn his top pick Pat into super-Kawhi), he blames Patton rather than his own idiocy in drafting/resigning them.

[Ice Man]

On its face, this seems like scapegoating, although remains to be seen because if they upgrade, that would be fine. From my eye, there was development/improvement in Dalen, Phillips, Matas, even Giddey over the season with all showing improved shooting (which IIRC was Patton's strength).

Objectively (because I have no axe to grind here) -

1) Giddey has improved his shooting each of his 4 years in the league. This season followed that pattern. In the norm for him.
2) Terry's shooting got modestly better, which is about as expected for a 3rd year player. In the norm.
3) Phillips's shooting got a lot better, for which one can credit Patton or say, well that's kinda what happens with a 2nd year player who is 21 years old. Possible win for Patton.
4) Matas was a rookie, so we don't have any year-over-year comp for him.
5) Ayo's shooting was slightly down, but such things happen. In the norm.
6) Pat fell apart. By far the worst shooting of his career.
7) Coby had the best year of his career. That could be because he is still young, or could be a win for Patton.

Thus, I see two possible wins for Patton (Phillips & Coby), and one clear loss with Pat Williams.

[sco]

On its face, this seems like scapegoating, although remains to be seen because if they upgrade, that would be fine. From my eye, there was development/improvement in Dalen, Phillips, Matas, even Giddey over the season with all showing improved shooting (which IIRC was Patton's strength).

Objectively (because I have no axe to grind here) -

1) Giddey has improved his shooting each of his 4 years in the league. This season followed that pattern. In the norm for him.
2) Terry's shooting got modestly better, which is about as expected for a 3rd year player. In the norm.
3) Phillips's shooting got a lot better, for which one can credit Patton or say, well that's kinda what happens with a 2nd year player who is 21 years old. Possible win for Patton.
4) Matas was a rookie, so we don't have any year-over-year comp for him.
5) Ayo's shooting was slightly down, but such things happen. In the norm.
6) Pat fell apart. By far the worst shooting of his career.
7) Coby had the best year of his career. That could be because he is still young, or could be a win for Patton.

Thus, I see two possible wins for Patton (Phillips & Coby), and one clear loss with Pat Williams.

I agree with that assessment. You could probably add Vuc to the plus list this season, but he was bad last season.

Regardless, if you want a positive spin, our guys (except Matas) probably got all of the new tips from Patton that they were going to get, so maybe a new voice comes with new tips.

Also, I wanted to revisit the (surprising to me) fact that Patton wasn't just our shooting coach but actually our director of player development. Was he always that or did he get a promotion?

Lobbying now for the guy I think made the big difference for Coby and Terry, Johnny-dribbles-a-lot. Can we hire him? Maybe he can fix PWill?

[Indomitable]

On its face, this seems like scapegoating, although remains to be seen because if they upgrade, that would be fine. From my eye, there was development/improvement in Dalen, Phillips, Matas, even Giddey over the season with all showing improved shooting (which IIRC was Patton's strength).

Objectively (because I have no axe to grind here) -

1) Giddey has improved his shooting each of his 4 years in the league. This season followed that pattern. In the norm for him.
2) Terry's shooting got modestly better, which is about as expected for a 3rd year player. In the norm.
3) Phillips's shooting got a lot better, for which one can credit Patton or say, well that's kinda what happens with a 2nd year player who is 21 years old. Possible win for Patton.
4) Matas was a rookie, so we don't have any year-over-year comp for him.
5) Ayo's shooting was slightly down, but such things happen. In the norm.
6) Pat fell apart. By far the worst shooting of his career.
7) Coby had the best year of his career. That could be because he is still young, or could be a win for Patton.

Thus, I see two possible wins for Patton (Phillips & Coby), and one clear loss with Pat Williams.

Pat came back fat because he was recovering from the leg issue. I seriously doubt Patton had anything to do with the rehab.

[Ice Man]

Pat came back fat because he was recovering from the leg issue. I seriously doubt Patton had anything to do with the rehab.

Yeah, I doubt that too. But my broader point is that there's not much overall evidence that the young Bulls performed above expectations in long-distance shooting this season. For example, the Bulls did improve slightly in 3 point shooting from 2024 to 2025, from 36% to 37%, but that difference was due entirely to Vuc's improvement. And VUC has for a long while has been a 3-point yo-yo, from well before Peter Patton's days.

2019 - 36%
2020 - 34%
2021 - 40%
2022 - 31%
2023 - 35%
2024 - 29%
2025 - 40%

I don't think Patton, who was hired in 2023, should be blamed for Vuc's bad 2024. Vuc is just flat-out erratic. But neither by the same token should Patton receive credit for Vuc's 2025 improvement.

[kodo]

I don't think Patton, who was hired in 2023, should be blamed for Vuc's bad 2024. Vuc is just flat-out erratic. But neither by the same token should Patton receive credit for Vuc's 2025 improvement.

Agreed I'd be skeptical if Patton had much to do with vets, like Vuc either positive or negative, or Lavine's outrageous 44% even while shooting heavily contested off the dribble pull-ups. No coach teaches people to do what Lavine does, if they did the coach would be worth a max contract.

I'd assume Patton has more impact on younger guys, Ayo & Matas said earlier this season Patton was their guy and their most important developmental coach. Never heard anything like that from Vuc, or Lavine.

A lot of vets have specialized guys anyway, Lavine uses Drew Hanlen.

[jnrjr79]

On its face, this seems like scapegoating, although remains to be seen because if they upgrade, that would be fine. From my eye, there was development/improvement in Dalen, Phillips, Matas, even Giddey over the season with all showing improved shooting (which IIRC was Patton's strength).

That said, the clear issue is talent. Making Dalen into a contributing reserve along the lines of a 7th-8th man is great, it's still a complete waste of a #20 FRP. Phillips is a better example because he's a 2d rounder, which is more the kind of slot where developing a productive reserve is meaningful.

So this to me seems very much like (another) AK distraction from his own incompetence. His entire tenure is still basically idiocy that makes GarPax look like Jerry West. And when Patton didn't turn Dalen into Kawhi (and turn his top pick Pat into super-Kawhi), he blames Patton rather than his own idiocy in drafting/resigning them.

A #20 pick turning into a 7th or 8th man is a good outcome and definitely not an expected outcome for a 2nd rounder.

[evilboy]

Read a lot of this thread. Seems like a couple now ex-Bulls employees post on RealGM.

[Ice Man]

Read a lot of this thread. Seems like a couple now ex-Bulls employees post on RealGM.

Ha! That seems unlikely.

[kodo]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/21/chicago-bulls-peter-patton-arturas-karnisovas/

Although he specialized as a shooting coach, Patton oversaw the entirety of internal development of Bulls players. And a source said Patton didn’t refrain from sharing his opinions on how the Bulls could improve on and off the court — insight that wasn’t always well-received by the top brass.

[Ice Man]

Donald Trump would have fired him during his first week! Ain't nobody on his team going to tell him what they think he is doing wrong. Whether that makes you more inclined to take Patton's side on less, I leave for you to decide.

[ChettheJet]

For all who think this ranks with the worst moves in franchise history; why not pay attention to how quickly some other team jumps up and signs Patton to do for them what you think he's done for the Bulls. The league lives on mimicking what others do, surely some now VP, GM head coach will share the board opinion that Patton would be a major difference maker. Let's see if he gets that call, where it might be and does he make a difference.

WAY too often fans overrate the job somebody does for the Bulls some so that they can hammer management when they make a change. And what gets ignored is that person not getting hired by any other team or they do and they don't get the team any closer to a ring than the Bulls were.

[MrSparkle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/chicagobulls/comments/1k4qxp2/ayo_and_matas_when_asked_which_bulls_coach_has/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Not going to read way too much into this, but any time your players’ favorite coaching staff member is fired, you have to wonder wtf is going on.

[CROBulls]

“And a source said Patton didn't refrain from sharing his opinions on how the Bulls could improve on and off the court — insight that wasn't always well-received by the top brass.”

Good to know I would not survive a day in this piece of *** organization. And I would actually walk out of there proud with head up. Some things are bigger in life. Good for you Patton, guys like you gonna find another job easy in this league. But when this piece of *** gets fired (when Jerry crooks), he aint gonna find another job out there.