A few weeks back when the Bulls were floundering and people were giving heat to first-year coach Vinny Del Negro, there was also talk John Paxson’s days as Bulls GM were numbered. Look, I even blogged about it.

But since then, the Bulls hit the road and played pretty well. And in the games they lost, they were very close to winning. Sort of like last night. (God, that last six seconds was infuriating.) But, one above average stretch of basketball apparently isn’t going to be enough to keep Del Negro’s and Paxson’s jobs in tact. This is at least what Peter Vecsey of the New York Post is reporting. (Blog A Bull points out the Sun-Times has also confirmed this report, but  the timing of his resignation is not certain, as it may possibly come after the season) For what it’s worth Vecsey writes today two sources have told him Paxson will resign Thursday, once the trade deadline expires. Assistant GM Gar Foreman would likely take his spot for the remainder of the season.

Then, Vecsey drops this:

One of the above sources said he wouldn’t be surprised if Doug Collins were approached again at the season regarding the coaching job (currently held by Vinny Del Negro) and as GM, or both. Collins and managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf couldn’t agree on money last May.

Argh. Look, Doug Collins is a smart cat. And he’s a pretty good coach, too. But as John Hollinger pointed out last time around when the Bulls were supposedly going to hire him before the start of this season, Collins’ teams play at a snail’s pace. He also hasn’t shown much support for younger players. With Derrick Rose leading this team, I don’t see why the Bulls would hire him. This team needs to go, go, go with Rose at the helm.

Ah, if only Mike D’Antoni had waited around a bit longer, saw the Bulls grab the first pick and then decided to come to Chicago.

What could have been …

AFTERNOON UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune is reporting Paxson might still stay with the organization, but under a different title. The paper also reports Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf has tried to talk Pax out of leaving.