Throughout their history, the Chicago Bulls haven't been the type of team that has had tremendous success in the trade market. They have undoubtedly performed better during several drafts, with the likes of Micheal Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Derrick Rose, to name a few, all coming to Chicago via the draft.
Be that as it may, the Bulls have been linked to several trade rumors in the past that could have changed the landscape of the organization for years to come. Below we've rounded up three of the craziest trade rumors in Bulls franchise history.
Michael Jordan to LA (1988)
We start things off with arguably the craziest trade rumor in the history of the Bulls franchise. Unsurprisingly, it involves the insanity of potentially parting ways with the GOAT, Michael Jordan.
Well, as crazy as this may sound, reports state that Chicago actually considered moving Jordan in the 1988 offseason. The Los Angeles Clippers were rumored to be his potential destination, with LA reportedly offering “any combination of five players or draft choices” in exchange for MJ. What made this even more enticing for the Bulls was the fact that the Clippers owned the first and sixth picks of the 1988 draft, which means that if the Chicago front office wanted to do a full revamp sans Jordan, this would certainly be the way to go.
As a matter of fact, Chicago was indeed exploring the possibility of moving on from Jordan four years into his career with the Bulls. The team was coming off another disappointing and rather short-lived postseason run, falling to the Detroit Pistons 4-1 in the second round. This marked the fourth straight season that Chicago failed to make a significant impact in the playoffs, and at that point, doubts were beginning to creep in if Jordan was the right man to lead the franchise to glory.
We all know how that worked out, so in hindsight, the Bulls made the absolute right decision in keeping Jordan on board.
Scottie Pippen to the Clippers (1995)
Socttie Pippen was Chicago's second-best player next to Jordan during the Bulls dynasty in the 1990's. As a matter of fact, the Bulls may not have even gotten to six championships without Pippen playing the role of Robin to Jordan's Batman.
In 1995, while Jordan was busy playing baseball, Pippen was the man at the helm for the Bulls. A Jordan-less Chicago side failed to reach the heights of their previous success, and at that point in time, the front office was reportedly ready to blow up the roster and do a full revamp. Being their most valuable player at that time, Pippen became the centerpiece of any potential trade deal, and according to reports, the Clippers, ironically, were once again in the picture.
Reports state that Pippen was already open to the idea of parting ways with the Bulls, partially because of a growing dispute between himself and the Chicago front office. Thankfully, he was dissuaded by teammate Ron Harper, who provided Pippen with a new perspective about staying in Chicago.
A few months later, Jordan would make his triumphant comeback. The Bulls went on to win three more titles, which may have never come to fruition if they opted to let Pippen go in 1995.
LeBron James to Chicago (2010)
It's interesting to think that the Bulls could have actually had two of the greatest players of all time on their team. After Jordan in the 90's, Chicago actually had a legitimate shot of bringing LeBron James to the Windy City in 2010. This is according to none other than Dwyane Wade, who himself played a single season for the Bulls during the 2016-17 campaign.
In Wade's retelling, he shared how the Miami Heat Big 3 was actually almost the Chicago Bulls Big 3:
“(Chicago) is a place I wanted to play,” Wade said in 2016 (h/t Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago). “It was a place LeBron also loved. We loved the city of Chicago. It's a great market as well. Obviously, the sunny sun of Miami is great, too. We had two great choices. It pretty much boiled down to what we felt we could build.”
This was not Wade's first mention of this. Prior to his 2016 statement, he already explained in detail how himself, LeBron, and Chris Bosh almost signed for the Bulls in 2010. Unfortunately for Chicago, the trio eventually opted for Miami (Wade was already with the Heat at that time, and LeBron and Bosh joined him there).
The Heat Big 3 won two championship for the Heat during their time together, so it wouldn't be impossible to think that they could have done the same had they gone to Chicago instead.
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