Chicago Bulls Trade Talk: Worst Five Trades-#4
By Ronald Agers
Apr 6, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) reacts during the first half against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Well Pippen Peoples, it official. As of this writing, Kevin Love will be traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The deal is done in principle meaning that the trade will not be official until the 30 day period after Andrew Wiggins signed his contract is complete. Another big trade. More Chicago Bulls trade talk. No action. But fear not Pippen Peoples. The staff here at Pippen Ain’t Easy will fill in the gap. Pippen Ain’t Easy will keep up the Chicago Bulls trade talk in our own series. Pippen Ain’t Easy continues the series of the five best and worst trades in Chicago Bulls history.
The start of the Chicago Bulls trade talk series started with the fifth worst trade of all time with Artis Gilmore being traded from the Chicago Bulls to the San Antonio Spurs for Dave Corzine and Mark Olberding. Artis Gilmore is in the Hall of Fame and I’m still trying to figure out who Mark Olberding is.
Now let’s continue the series with another one of the Chicago Bulls historic oops oops. Let’s take a look at the fourth worst trade in Chicago Bulls history.
June 27, 2001
The Chicago Bulls trade Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers
WHILE
The Los Angeles Clippers traded Brian Skinner and the draft rights to Tyson Chandler.
This trade got Jerry Krause fired. Yeah, yeah, the reported reason for Jerry Krause leaving the Bulls was for health reasons. If you believe that, you’ll believe the statue above is me in a Michael Jordan throwback jersey. This is the move that put the Chicago Bulls franchise at rock bottom after the “Dynasty Club” was broken up after winning six championships in eight years. Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf thought they could rebuild the team through the draft and one big name free agent.
Umm…nope!
At this point, the message was clear and even Krause and Reinsdorf had to admit it. Blowing up that championship team was a huge mistake and they took their success for granted.
Hey Krause, I guess players DO win championships.
Remember back on draft night how the Bulls made a masterful move trading up to get Doug McDermott? Hold on to that good feeling because back in 2001, Jerry Krause made a move that set the Chicago Bulls back years into mediocrity until Derrick Rose showed up years later. Sure the Bulls made the playoffs in 2004. How did they do? Exactly. Moving on.
Jerry Krause traded the Bulls franchise player Elton Brand to the Clippers for the draft rights to the No.2 overall pick Tyson Chandler who was fresh out of high school. Krause’s plan was to team Chandler up with the Bulls No.4 draft pick Eddy Curry another high school grad to build a young dominant frontcourt for the future. According to Pippen Ain’t Easy’s research, man this was the dummy move and it crashed and burned.
Elton Brand, who was the first Bull to average 20 points and 10 rebounds since Artis Gilmore (tends to make you wonder what the Bulls have against players like these) went on to become a star for the next seven seasons for the Clippers. Granted those Clippers are absolutely nothing like the Lob City Clippers of today but someone had to be a star right?
Forget the Tyson Chandler that you know today. You know, the Tyson Chandler that anchored the defense for the 2011 World Champion Dallas Mavericks. The Tyson Chandler who won the Defensive player of the Year award. Not that Tyson Chandler. The Tyson Chandler who is very well-respected among NBA circles IS NOT what the Chicago Bulls drafted.
Tyson Chandler averaged 6.9 points and 7.6 rebounds in five uneventful seasons with the Chicago Bulls. I can’t lie though, those Chandler throwback jerseys used to sell like hotcakes. The supposed dynamic duo of Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry didn’t work based on the fact that they both played the same position and they were so young. Back issues and foul trouble limited Chandler’s time on the court. After getting a security blanket contract worth $63 million dollars over six years coupled with Eddy Curry exit. Chandler was the last player of the Jerry Krause era.
After signing his deal, Chandler averaged 5.3 points per game the next season. When Ben Wallace came to town as a free agent out of Detroit. It was good-bye Tyson Chandler.
Eventually, Tyson Chandler would get a career boost playing in New Orleans with Chris Paul who would link up a time or two for alley oop dunks. After collecting a couple of gold medals playing for the U.S. National teams in the FIBA World Championships in 2010 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he found new life with the Dallas Mavericks.
After one voided trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder and a trade to the Charlotte Bobcats for Emeka Okafor for a year, Tyson Chandler found himself in Dallas. He was credited for making the Mavericks tough inside and anchoring the defense. He was pivotal in Dallas’ NBA Finals victory over the Miami Heat. LeBron James and company had issues trying to score on the Mavericks zone in crunch time which was headed up by Chandler. The deal that the Mavericks made with the Bobcats was considered one of the most one-sided deals at the time.
After the championship, Chandler was traded to the New York Knicks in a cost cutting move. After spending a few seasons in New York, he was traded back to Dallas this summer.
You can take this trade two ways if you are a Chicago Bulls fan.
The good thing about this trade was it was the beginning of the end of the career of Jerry Krause. Also, it made him made him look even more like a jackass for thinking he could blow up one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history and build up another one with relative ease. Believe me, he was really that arrogant. No wonder Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson hated him.
It’s a bad thing because Elton Brand was a player that produced and played hard every single night and was traded for a pipe dream of teaming up two players fresh out of the senior proms. Elton Brand was well-respected throughout the NBA for his professionalism on and off the court. Why do you think he’s still getting one year deals at this stage of his career. He’s been around forever.
Keep it locked to Pippen Ain’t Easy as we continue to count down the five best and worst trades in Chicago Bulls history.
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