Jerry Reinsdorf spoke about why he trusts John Paxson and Gar Forman to continue leading the Chicago Bulls' front office.

“I picked John to rebuild when (Jerry) Krause left (in 2003) because he’s a leader. Nothing has changed,” Reinsdorf said Tuesday in a phone interview. “He’s a fine evaluator of talent. He’s a long-term thinker. He works well with the general manager. He works well with coaches. I’m a John Paxson fan.

“Gar is great with agents. John hates to deal with agents. Gar is good at negotiating with the other general managers, but John was good at that too. Gar is great at cap knowledge and planning ahead. He’s an extremely detailed guy. That’s why we have the two jobs. And that’s a trend that teams are moving too. They realize you need two different skill sets.”

Forman was promoted to general manager in 2009 while Paxson has always ranked higher.

Reinsdorf is nearly 82 and was asked why he would sign off on a rebuild at this stage of his life.

“I figure I have at the most 15-20 years left and I’d like to win again,” he said. “I don’t like being caught in the middle.

“I think the rebuild is going great. We don’t want to be fooled by winning six games in a row. But we’re seeing our young players step up. We’re seeing (Nikola) Mirotic show what we thought we had in the first place. (Kris) Dunn is coming on. (Bobby) Portis is having a good year. And (Zach) LaVine hasn’t even played yet.

“I think Gar and John have put together the core of something good. Now it remains to be seen (if we) can take the next two steps, mediocrity and being good, without being stuck too long in mediocrity.”