The Chicago Bulls dominated the 1990s with six championships (imagine if Michael Jordan hadn’t grown tired of the game and taken his baseball sabbatical), so it would seem as though that team’s management made a number of great trades through the years. However, as history shows, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, other than the team Jerry Krause helped assemble around Michael Jordan in the late 1980s and throughout the ’90s, the Chicago Bulls have actually regretted the majority of their trades. Credit the Bulls’ management for giving basketball’s greatest player the help he needed to breakthrough and building a dynasty, but we also have to examine the mistakes Chicago has made, especially in the last few years. Here are the best five and worst five trades in Chicago Bulls team history.
Best 5 Trades:
5. Bulls trade Stacey King to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Luc Longley, Feb. 23, 1994 – Everyone remembers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr for the Chicago Bulls’ second three-peat, but Luc Longley often gets lost in the shuffle. Longley wasn’t the biggest contributor to Chicago’s offense, averaging just 9.9 points per game during those last three title seasons, but on a team with MJ, he didn’t need to be. Instead, Longley helped anchor one of the league’s best defenses during the second three-peat with 1.2 blocks and (a somewhat underwhelming) 5.5 rebounds per game. So considering the fact that the Bulls turned Stacey King’s mediocre 6.5 points per game into a competent 7-footer like Luc Longley, it’s easy to see why this trade was a win.
4. Bulls trade Charles Oakley and first-round draft pick (Rod Strickland) to the New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright and first-round draft pick (Will Perdue), June 27, 1988 – The night before the 1988 NBA Draft, the Bulls made a somewhat tough decision and traded power forward Charles Oakley and a first-round draft pick that became Rod Strickland for center Bill Cartwright and a first-round draft pick that turned into Will Perdue. Cartwright’s best days were behind him at that point, Oakley was a valuable contributor to the Knicks and Perdue never really contributed that much, but the trade proved to be a good one in the end for two reasons: 1) Cartwright was still able to post 7.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game during Chicago’s first three-peat and 2) the Bulls were later able to turn Will Perdue into a valuable contributor for the Bulls’ second three-peat … but we’ll get to that one soon enough.
3. Bulls trade Reggie Theus to the Kansas City Kings for Steve Johnson and three second-round draft picks, Feb. 15, 1984 – In reality, if we’re judging this trade solely on what Chicago directly got in return for fan favorite Reggie Theus, the Bulls lost this trade. Theus averaged 17.7 points in five and a half seasons for the Bulls and that number would have been higher if he hadn’t been benched for the majority of that last half season. Theus was known for the energy he brought to the court, so fans were understandably upset when Chicago management decided to head in a different direction and ship him off to Kansas City, where he flourished. But the trade turned out to be a blessing in disguise: The Bulls finished the year with a record bad enough to earn the third pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers wasted their No. 2 pick on Sam Bowie and Chicago was forever changed by picking up this guy:
2. Bulls trade Will Perdue to the San Antonio Spurs for Dennis Rodman, Oct. 2, 1995 – Remember when trading Charles Oakley seemed like a bad idea? Fortunately for the Bulls, Will Perdue and his meager contributions in Chicago were transformed into a Hall-of-Fame rebounder who quickly gelled with an already unstoppable Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen tandem to turn the ’90s Bulls into a memorable dynasty. Forget about his 5.5 points per game in three seasons in the Windy City; this was a guy who posted an absurd 15.9 rebounds per game for Chicago’s second three-peat and single-handedly made life easier for nearly everyone on the Bulls’ roster. Despite being a head case and notorious party animal, Rodman was the perfect complement to Jordan and Pippen who helped make the Bulls a formidable defensive squad and aided Jordan in securing another three championships.
1. Bulls trade Olden Polynice to the Seattle SuperSonics for Scottie Pippen, June 22, 1987 – Although Scottie Pippen has often been wildly underrated at times living in Jordan’s massive shadow, I’m in the party that believes Michael Jordan definitely made him a better player. But there’s no denying that the greatest trade in Chicago Bulls history was securing a guy who was an elite wing defender, an incredible athlete, an effective scorer, a fantastic complement as second-in-command to MJ and a champion who would go down as one of the top 50 players in NBA history (top 25, in my opinion). Have you ever heard of Olden Polynice? Well, maybe, but you’re probably in the minority of NBA fans there. Chances are you’ve only heard of Polynice because of this trade. In the 1987 NBA Draft, the Bulls took Polynice with the No. 8 pick and future All-Star Horace Grant with the No. 10 pick. Grant turned out to be a terrific post presence, so trading Polynice for a Hall-of-Fame guy like Pippen was a wonderfully fantastic move that finally brought Michael Jordan the help he needed to eventually lead the Bulls to six titles.
Worst 5 Trades:
5. Bulls trade Artis Gilmore to the San Antonio Spurs for Dave Corzine and Mark Olberding, July 22, 1982 – For those of you who aren’t familiar with Artis Gilmore, here’s a quick look at his basketball resume: ABA Rookie of the Year, ABA MVP, five-time ABA All-Star, No. 1 pick in the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, six-time NBA All-Star, career averages of 18.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 17 seasons in the NBA and ABA, Hall of Famer. Gilmore was a slow and clunky center, but he got results and towered over the majority of his competition. Gilmore’s prime and best statistical seasons were with the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA, but he served as Chicago’s best player for six seasons and led the league in field-goal percentage four consecutive times — including a career-best 67 percent in 1980-81. That serves as the third highest field-goal percentage for a season in NBA history, while Gilmore is the all-time leader in field-goal percentage (minimum of 2,000 shots) at 59.9 percent. As for Dave Corzine and Mark Olberding? Corzine averaged 8.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for his career, while Olberding only played in Chicago for one season. Not exactly a Hall-of-Fame return for this guy:
4. Bulls trade Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers for Brian Skinner and the draft rights to Tyson Chandler, June 27, 2001 – Krause shocked Bulls fans for the 2001 NBA Draft when he traded their franchise player, Elton Brand–the first Bull to average a 20-10 since the Artis Gilmore days–to the Clippers for the draft rights to the No. 2 overall pick, Tyson Chandler. Chandler would play a crucial role with the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks … but he didn’t do in Chicago much to help the resentful feelings of Bulls fans who watched Elton Brand blossom in Los Angeles. Chandler averaged 6.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in five seasons with the Bulls and his best statistical seasons would come in New Orleans, Dallas and New York. Basically, this trade was a huge mistake since Chandler never turned into a franchise player and Elton Brand was a star for the next seven seasons with the Clippers.
3. Bulls trade Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Ron Mercer and Kevin Ollie to the Indiana Pacers for Jalen Rose, Travis Best and Norm Richardson, Feb. 19, 2002 – Midway through the 2001-02 season, Chicago traded its three leading scorers to the Pacers for Rose and two non-contributors. Rose played well for the Bulls, averaging 21.4 points per game in Chicago, but unfortunately, he only played 128 games for them. Best and Richardson only played a combined 38 games for Chicago. Meanwhile, Artest turned into a great scorer and lockdown perimeter defender and Miller emerged as a terrific passing center. Easily one of the worst trades in Bulls history that Chicago would have loved to have back as they continued to flounder post-Michael Jordan.
2. Jan. 21, 1999 – Jan. 23, 1999 – When Phil Jackson announced he was leaving the Chicago Bulls, it was the beginning of the end of a dynasty. After that Michael Jordan announced his retirement on Jan. 13, 1999. Eight days later, the Bulls renounced the rights to Jordan and Dennis Rodman, while also shipping Steve Kerr to the San Antonio Spurs for Chuck Person and future first-round draft pick. The very next day, Chicago traded Scottie Pippen to the Portland Trail Blazers for Roy Rogers and a second-round draft pick. The following day, they traded Luc Longley to the Phoenix Suns for Mark Bryant, Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and a future first-round draft pick.
And just in case you were wondering, none of those draft picks turned into anything worthy of mentioning. In the history of the NBA, I don’t think a dynasty has been completely dissembled in such a rapid period of time. Granted, that Bulls team was no longer a championship team the second Michael Jordan announced his second retirement, but the Bulls completely cleaned house, getting rid of Pippen, Rodman, Longley and Kerr in less than a week … for pretty much nothing in return. Just a few years later, while the Bulls continued to struggle, Steve Kerr served up a stinging reminder en route to a championship with the Spurs showing why you don’t tear apart a contender like that:
1. Bulls trade LaMarcus Aldridge to the Portland Trail Blazers for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa, June 28, 2006 – To be honest, trading a Hall of Famer like Scottie Pippen for virtually nothing should hold the top spot here, but considering how Pippen’s career fizzled post-MJ and the fact that the Bulls similarly would have fizzled a bit without Jordan, this baffling move takes the title of the worst trade in Chicago Bulls team history. In the 2006 NBA Draft, the Bulls picked Aldridge with the second overall pick, but they immediately shipped him to the Trail Blazers for … Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa. Thomas has averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in his seven-year career and currently plays for the Charlotte Bobcats as a reserve, while Khryapa only played four years in the league. That should say it all, but then we have to consider LaMarcus Aldridge’s superior numbers (18.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in seven seasons), his status as a franchise player for the Blazers and the fact that the Bulls would be title contenders with a nucleus of Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and LaMarcus Aldridge (while also saving some money by not signing Carlos Boozer to his massive deal). A healthy Derrick Rose means a Bulls team capable of contending for a title, but had Chicago kept Aldridge and not foolishly traded him away for Thomas, they might have already found their way back to the Finals by now.