During his roughly two-decade run as the Chicago Bulls general manager, who were the best NBA Draft picks that Jerry Krause had?
The recent 10-part ESPN/ABC/Netflix hit documentary series that was released highlighting the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls title-winning team called “The Last Dance” really gave an inside look at how the team felt about former general manager Jerry Krause. Especially in his latter years with the Bulls organization, Krause wasn’t the most popular figure in the front office.
Fair or not, Krause is largely credited as the one who broke up the Bulls dynasty team following the 1998 NBA Finals. He was noted to not be open to the return of former legendary head coach Phil Jackson with the team, and a lot of the players saw the door out of Chicago in the following offseason. Right after the 1998 NBA Finals, the likes of all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan would retire for the second time, forward Scottie Pippen would be traded, and big man Dennis Rodman was released.
About all that Krause would retain following that 1998 NBA Finals six-game series win over the vaunted Utah Jazz from the dynasty years were forward Toni Kukoc, guard Ron Harper, and big man Bill Wennington.
While that stretch of time where Krause broke up the Bulls dynasty team wasn’t his best look, he does deserve a lot of credit for building up the teams that won so many titles in the 1990’s in the first place. He constructed a lot of those supporting casts around MJ through the NBA Draft and the trade market in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Here’s a look back at the five best NBA Draft picks that Krause had as the general manager of the Bulls.