![]() Except, in hindsight, can you really compare the value of Air Jordan to Johnson, Richmond, and Smits combined?Įven with a greater chance of winning a championship with this roster, Reinsdorf would back out, as he considered Michael Jordan untradeable.īesides, Jordan put fans in their seats before they had any championships. The plan doesn’t sound as bad as it looks. A lineup of Johnson at the point, Richmond at shooting guard, Pippen at small forward, Grant or Oakley at power forward, and Smits at center would definitely be a force to be reckoned with. The goal was to put together a team that wasn’t dependent on one player on offense and have a more balanced attack. Or they could trade either Charles Oakley or Horace Grant in exchange for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kevin Johnson. The Bulls also had their own draft pick at number 11 which they could use to pick Rod Strickland, a fringe All-Star during his best years and an excellent playmaker. Both would eventually become All-Star players. With those picks, the Bulls could select 7-foot-4 center Rik Smits (whom they highly covet) with the first pick and then grab shooting guard Mitch Richmond with the sixth. The team owned the first and sixth picks in the 1988 NBA Draft. Bulls coach Doug Collins believed so, too, and he told Reinsdorf about it.Ĭlippers owner Donald Sterling made a call to Reinsdorf, offering “any combination of five players or draft choices” in exchange for Jordan. It would be their 15th loss in 20 playoff games with Jordan and there was a popular theory that the Bulls would never win a title with number 23 in tow because of his style of play. In the 1987-88 NBA playoffs, Chicago was eliminated four games to one by the Detroit Pistons. The infamous story of how the Bulls almost traded Jordan to the Los Angeles Clippers was outlined in Sam Smith’s best-selling and highly controversial book “The Jordan Rules.” Michael Jordan to Clippers for the 1988 No. ![]() Michael Jordan Trade – Trading Michael Jordan (Never!)ĥ. Thankfully, “intriguing” was the most these potential trades ever were. Though there is hardly any scenario in which the loss of a certain 6-foot-6 shooting guard would look good for the Bulls organization in general, and Reinsdorf in particular, there were offers that were quite intriguing to say the least. Green), there was no sane reason to pull the trigger on a Jordan trade. Short of bringing in the entire starting lineup of the 1988 NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, and A.C. No matter what was offered to him, a trade involving number 23 would have vilified Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf both in the short term and in the long run. Trading Jordan is practically tantamount to blasphemy just by thinking of it much less talking to teams about the possibility. Trading His Airness would be like giving away the ability to breath air in order to eat Burger King. Believe it or not, Bulls fans nearly lost the opportunity to watch MJ and see him deliver a championship to the city had certain deals gone through.īut who in their right mind would trade arguably the greatest player of all time? A Michael Jordan trade? For real. Yes, there was a time in history when a Jordan trade was possible, even if trading him - in hindsight - would be considered treason by the Chicago Bulls.Įvery organization wants to be a champion and one of the best ways to become a championship contender is through trades. Well, a few of them, as trading Michael Jordan would be insane anyway, but it nearly happened a few times! In this post, we're going to look at a Michael Jordan trade. ![]() But there was a time when the most untouchable player of all time was not as valuable as he would eventually become. If there is one player in all of NBA history who many consider to be “untradeable, they might argue that it is none other than former Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan. ![]()
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