Fault everywhere in this most underwhelming of Bulls seasons

This is what the closing of a championship window looks like. It’s expensive and it’s ugly and there’s fault everywhere.

The Bulls are a luxury-tax team but not currentlya playoff team. A season that began with management selling a coaching change as the final key to unlocking championship contention is one Pacers victory or Bulls loss away from the Bulls shockingly missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.

That debacle cost coach Scott Skiles his job. But with fans screaming for change, early signs point to only a tweak to coach Fred Hoiberg’s staff — sources said assistant coach Randy Brown could move back to a front-office role — and an offseason attempt to make the roster younger and more athletic.

All indications are executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman will lead that attempt. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf long has valued management continuity and praises Paxson in any rare interview. Forman has cultivated a strong relationship with Michael Reinsdorf, the team’s president and chief executive officer. Their wives run the Bulls’ charity arm.

So many elements contributed to the Bulls’ underwhelming season and unlikable team.

Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler showed only flashes of chemistry as the team’s maximum-salaried players. An aging, unathletic team never fully embraced the system of Hoiberg, whose learning curve proved steeper than envisioned. Joakim Noah’s originally reduced role and then season-ending shoulder surgery fueled a steep defensive decline and created a major leadership void inside the locker room. Management overvalued the abilities of Nikola Mirotic, Doug McDermott and Tony Snell to become consistent forces.

The decline in public accountability from the top can’t be overlooked either. That dynamic can filter down through a franchise.

Instead of raw, unfiltered accountability — who can forget Paxson scorching the earth after the Bulls lost his first game as general manager back in October 2003? — there are attempts at spin control.

It’s why the planned postmortem with Bulls brass meeting with reporters, something not done in recent seasons other than to explain Tom Thibodeau’s dismissal, will be welcomed.

Though all four decision-makers share respect and collaborate on major decisions in a strong working relationship, Forman’s voice and vision have prevailed in recent moves.

Hoiberg is viewed as his hire, though it was signed off on unanimously. Forman prevailed in the internal debate over whether to try to finalize a Pau Gasol-to-the-Kings trade deadline deal, though there was sentiment that with Mike Dunleavy just back the team could make a run as well as not loving the return from the Kings. Forman then publicly doubled down on re-signing Gasol, calling him part of the core. That stance has softened with Noah a priority, sources said, and Gasol also will entertain free-agency options.

And the unceremonious dumping of veteran stalwart Kirk Hinrich to save $2.5 million on the imminent luxury-tax payment was pitched by Forman, beyond the cost-saving aspect, as giving the Bulls a free look at Justin Holiday, a trade exception and an unprotected second-round pick.

That those assets could become trade chips and Holiday has played well hasn’t assuaged some players’ puzzlement over Hinrich’s departure. Beyond his limited-minutes defensive aptitude, Hinrich possessed a powerful, behind-the-scenes presence of accountability and quietly helped teammates in a well-received manner.

Also, while family situations typically don’t factor into the big business that is pro sports, Hinrich took less money to sign with the Bulls under the assumption he’d stay. His family with four young children never left the area, even when the Bulls traded him the first time to Washington in 2010 for cap space to chase LeBron James.

The Bulls have a history of making post-career amends with well-liked players. See last week’s hiring of special adviser Horace Grant, whom Jerry Reinsdorf once accused of reneging on a handshake deal, as the latest example.

But Hinrich’s trade, which was strongly debated internally, had another ripple effect in an already fragile locker room.

Hoiberg’s hold on that locker room has varied.

The strong gains the first-year coach made with last summer’s personal visits with players was offset somewhat in October when a story was concocted about Noah volunteering for his reserve role.

It also didn’t help Hoiberg’s authority that Brown moved from his front-office role to the bench. Fair or not, several players view the affable and well-liked Brown as Forman’s eyes and ears, sources said. Their connection dates to Forman recruiting Brown at New Mexico State in 1989.

Butler’s public declaration in December for Hoiberg to “coach harder” underscored a season-long theme — that Hoiberg struggled to hold players accountable. Hoiberg’s individual relationships with players is stronger than the perception; he communicates with them regularly and is liked.

But Butler’s emboldened state after landing a max contract led to several disruptive moments throughout the season, in film sessions and on the practice floor, sources said. That they continued sometimes unchecked throughout the season didn’t bode well for team chemistry, which started to fray in Thibodeau’s last season.

In fact, that reason is why there’s optimism for Hoiberg’s future. Even management now believes this core was held together one season too long, that any coach would’ve struggled to overcome this tired team’s tendency to give in to adversity.

With Hoiberg’s executive background from the Timberwolves, there’s hope he and management can work together to reshape the roster more to his preferred style of play. The working relationship is strong.

As for Butler, teammates alternated between rolling their eyes at his self-proclaimed leadership attempts and respecting his work ethic. His heavy workload and two-way, All-Star talent reminded all that his heart remained in a good place. But his failure to embrace Hoiberg’s system and preference for slower pace and isolation plays didn’t represent inclusive leadership.

Injuries will be cited during the scheduled postmortem, and there’s no denying the Bulls were affected by them. The Bulls will miss more than 170 games to injury, more than any season under Thibodeau, save the 2012-13 season that Rose missed all of after left ACL surgery. The games lost to top rotation players is the highest total.

But far too many head-scratching losses featured lay-down effort. And during the coaching change, management cited depth and Hoiberg’s ability to utilize it as building blocks for a long postseason run.

Ultimately, the NBA is a players’ league. And the ball doesn’t lie.

The star-turn struggle between Rose and Butler played out in bizarre, often passive-aggressive fashion. Mirotic and McDermott showed flashes but struggled with consistency. Snell’s regression made him an afterthought.

Even Gasol’s All-Star skill level and steady diet of double-doubles carried a sometimes empty feel. He routinely struggled to rebound in traffic and, combined with Rose, consistently was compromised trying to guard screen-and-roll.

When Rose, in unsolicited fashion, mentioned his 2017 free agency at last September’s media day, it set a tone for the independent contracting that would follow. Gasol later confirmed he’d exercise his player option.

A team once defined by selflessness developed an “everybody doing their own thing” feel. No wonder it often gave in to adversity.

The Bulls have individual talent, to be sure. Gasol talked often about it lacking in chemistry. Off the court, players mostly went their separate ways.

Oh, for the days of the group hug in Toronto after Butler’s franchise-record 40-point second half.

The Bulls moved from 50 victories and a second-round playoff exit to the verge of the lottery. Even if the Bulls somehow win out and the Pacers lose out to keep the playoff streak alive, fundamental issues need to be addressed.

The championship window has closed. If it reopens, new faces will be peering out of it.

kcjohnson@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcjhoop