Pelicans adding former Bulls GM Gar Forman to front office in special advisory role

Gar Forman, the former general manager of the Chicago Bulls, is joining the New Orleans Pelicans in a special advisory role. His primary responsibilities are expected to center on talent evaluation, giving assistance to David Griffin and Trajan Langdon in the scouting department.

According to KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, Griffin and Forman have shared a good relationship for years; however, the same cannot be said with fans living in the Windy City.

Before fans collaborated to put up a billboard in hopes of pushing their Chicago franchise go in a different direction, there were happier times.

After getting promoted to the general manager position in 2009, Forman proceeded to assemble a strong core around Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah which included the additions of Taj Gibson (26th pick in 2009 Draft) and Jimmy Butler (30th pick in 2011 Draft). He also managed to parlay the #28 selection in the 2011 Draft (Norris Cole) into future rights for Nikola Mirotic.

Some of those efforts and the Bulls’ corresponding success on the court culminated in the 2011 Executive of the Year Award. Unfortunately, that was the high point of Forman’s tenure.

Then 2012 came, and in the wake of Rose’s organizational-changing knee injury, Forman would have to finally deal with adversity. If adversity measures the true worth of a person, it wasn’t long before Forman was exposed.

The drafting of Marquis Teague was catastrophic on many levels. First, because Thibodeau wanted Draymond Green and was vetoed, and secondly, because Forman was actually talked into the pick by Kentucky coach John Calipari. A fact that the higher-ups have admitted to happening.

But it was behind the scenes that Forman started to misplay his hand.

He quickly gained the reputation as a guy that was paranoid, turning his focus to keeping his job rather than doing his job.

There were stories of distrust sewn within the Chicago organization, the unceremonious firing of Tom Thibodeau and the eyebrow-raising trades of Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler — and yet Forman managed to stay with the Bulls through all the potential pitfalls.

After 22 years of employment though, Chicago decided it was finally time to move on from Forman this past April, hiring Arturas Karnisovas as their executive vice president of basketball operations who then brought in Marc Eversley as his GM.

Despite the roller coaster ride in Chicago, there were rumors that Forman would soon land elsewhere in the league, specifically in some scouting type of role.

The early talk around the league is yes. Forman, for all his issues involving trust with some agents and other executives, is also known as an extremely strong talent evaluator. He has two years left on his contract with the Bulls, which will be paid to him in some fashion, a source said. But he’s likely to land a scouting job with another team.

According to those who are aware of his positive attributes, Forman has a great eye for talent — especially regarding players who seem to fall through the cracks, possesses excellent knowledge of the NBA cap, and is extremely detail-orientated.

Well, those dots really do line up. The Pelicans have 11 first round picks, three first round pick swaps, and 10 second round picks over the next seven drafts, so it’s logical for the New Orleans front office to beef up their crew of talent evaluators. Forman seems to fit that bill and perhaps a little more, with already having Griffin’s confidence.

Don’t overthink this hire.

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