3. Dennis Rodman, Forward
After the Bulls parted ways with “The Worm” following their second three-peat of the 1990’s, more specifically with their six game NBA Finals win over the Utah Jazz to cap the 1997-98 season, this stud big man wouldn’t be the same. It is well known that the two teams that the Hall-of-Fame forward Dennis Rodman fit best with were the Bulls and Detroit Pistons.
So once the former Bulls general manager Krause parted ways with Rodman, it wasn’t likely that he was going to find another situation like he did in the Windy City or the Motor City.
The first team that Rodman landed with after his run with the Bulls was over Los Angeles Lakers. He only played in 23 games with the Lakers during the 1998-99 season. Rodman averaged 2.1 points per game, 11.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks. He would play in even less games the following season with the Dallas Mavericks (just 11). And his career in the NBA was over after that stint with the Mavs during the 1999-00 season.
If the Bulls had only brought Rodman back for at least one more season, he could’ve helped this team make a more natural bridge to the next rebuild. Instead, his career phased out in one of the worst ways possible and he never really got a solid chance in the NBA again.
It’s not to say that Rodman would’ve maintained All-Star caliber form if he were to remain with the Bulls beyond the 1997-98 season, but it was worth a shot if nothing else. He didn’t come with a huge price tag up front in the mid-1990’s. He was worth one more contract in the late 1990’s.