Chicago Bulls: 3 biggest mistakes Jerry Krause made after 97-98 season
1. Letting Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, and Michael Jordan go for next to nothing
Obviously letting MJ go was its own problem for Krause and the Bulls. In the last part of the much-often discussed docuseries The Last Dance, Jordan stated that he would’ve come back and signed a one-year contract with the Bulls if Krause would’ve provided the opportunity. Getting back the likes of Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman brings about the interesting conversation of if they would’ve won a fourth straight title in 1999.
But there were other mistakes that Krause made letting go of other pieces of that Jordan and Pippen supporting cast during the 1998 offseason. It all starts with the trade that he made letting go of the current Golden State Warriors head coach Kerr to the building dynasty of the San Antonio Spurs for next to nothing. The Bulls got just Chuck Person and a 2000 first round draft pick (which was used on Dalibor Bagaric, who didn’t do much in the NBA) for Kerr from the Spurs.
While the Bulls wouldn’t get much of anything out of Person and Bagaric during the early years of the rebuild after the turn of the century, the Spurs would win two titles while Kerr continued to be a sharpshooter from downtown. Kerr was 33 years old when Krause dished him out during the 1998 offseason. He still had some value left for the Bulls, to help bridge the gaps for the next rebuild.
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Another trade that Krause made during the 1998 offseason that was counter-intuitive to sparking the rebuild the right way was trading seven-footer and center Luc Longley to the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls got Bubba Wells, Mark Bryant, and Martin Muursepp out of the trade with the Suns. But they also got a 1999 first round draft pick that would be used on a very productive player (Metta World Peace), but they would trade him before he would do anything for this team.
Dishing out Longley for that return doesn’t sound bad on the surface, but drill deeper with how the Bulls used that return and you arrive at the reason why it was a mistake.