Chapter 748: Chapter 5 Goodbye_2
After all, these two were brought into the Bulls by Jerry Krause, they were Krause’s people, and Jordan’s relationship with them was always rocky.
Especially Bill Cartwright, whose arrival led to the departure of Jordan’s good friend Charles Oakley, causing Jordan for a time to demand that others not pass the ball to Cartwright in the fourth quarter.
Bill Cartwright was tough and old-school, and he could earn the respect of the other Bulls players, but Jordan didn’t want to respect him.
Jordan also had no respect for Jerry Krause; whenever Krause entered the Bulls locker room, Jordan would snort like a cow mooing to mock Krause’s obesity.
After the Bulls lost Nili and gained nothing in the Barkley trade, Jordan expressed his dissatisfaction with the management.
Jordan believed that a team lacking veterans would find it difficult to win the championship, especially against the formidable Portland Trail Blazers.
The Bulls needed to bring in some experienced players who could perform in crucial playoff moments, not rookies like BJ Armstrong or lifetime backup white centers like Will Purdue, destined to be Ah Gan’s toys.
Jordan’s dissatisfaction was the owner’s dissatisfaction.
Reinsdorf urged Jerry Krause to do something, to scoop up something useful in the increasingly dry free agent market, or to make a significant trade.
Apart from Barkley, Jordan also had his eye on the former Suns star Walter Davis, who had fallen into drug addiction.
As a former All-Star, Jordan liked Davis’s ball-handling and scoring abilities, thinking that if he could acquire Davis, it would greatly reduce his own offensive pressure.
Then there was Dan Dantley from the Dallas Mavericks, whose contract was expiring, and who also had the chance to come to the Bulls to continue his career after being a one-on-one champion.
But Jerry Krause didn’t think so; he thought the players Jordan wanted were nonsensical and presumptuous.
Players like Davis and Dantley, known veterans, they needed ball control, needed to slow down for strategy.
They couldn’t keep up with the Bulls’ fast counterattacks and flexible triangle offense, especially since their defense was lacking.
Krause believed the team’s lineup was good; they had drafted Toni Kukoc, a teammate and good friend of Petrović, although he wasn’t yet able to play in Chicago.
After losing Nili, Krause was interested in Cliff Livingston from the Atlanta Hawks.
A forward who was 6 feet 8 inches tall, strong, and versatile, his best season averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block per game.
Because he was always in the shadow of Dominique Wilkins, he never got a real chance to shine.
Krause wanted to find a strong substitute for Pippen, who was also a backup plan—Pippen was facing contract renewal and wanted a long-term deal.
In any case, Krause had his own ideas and pace, he was not swayed by Jordan.
However, the trade between the Trail Blazers and the Celtics disrupted Krause’s pace.
Reggie Lewis went to Portland, significantly strengthening the Trail Blazers’ guard and forward line defense.
During the 1990 season, in the playoffs, the Trail Blazers’ guard and forward man-to-man defense was always off.
Whether it was the first round against the Nuggets, letting English score high points consecutively, or in the finals where Isiah Thomas, wearing a mask, performed even better than in the Eastern finals, revealed the weakness of the Trail Blazers’ flank and backcourt defense.
Only because the Trail Blazers’ interior line was too strong, with Ah Gan covering wing sweeps and frontline assists defensively, the backend and flank gaps weren’t so apparent.
At the same time, the Trail Blazers’ four guards had potent long-range firepower, which covered up for their defensive deficiencies.
But what if the Trail Blazers met the Bulls? The Bulls’ backcourt and flank defense were the best in the league.
And the Bulls had Michael Jordan, the most lethal shooting guard in NBA history.
Hornersek, Porter, Curry, or Petrović, none could even slightly limit Jordan.
As for Ah Gan?
If it really came to the finals, with Ah Gan directly exposed to Jordan’s offensive firepower, once he committed too many fouls, the Trail Blazers’ offense and defense would collapse by half.
Regular season matchups don’t count; during the off-season, Jerry Krause dreamed of crushing Ah Gan and the Trail Blazers this season.
The arrival of Reggie Lewis shattered Krause’s dream; this 6-foot-7 player, with height, wingspan, and explosive power all outstanding, measured up to Jordan physically, even slightly better in some aspects.
In multiple matchups with the Celtics, Lewis was the man defending Jordan, and the results were quite decent.
Thinking that such a player had become part of the Trail Blazers and would integrate into their defensive system, becoming Ah Gan’s right-hand man, Jerry Krause was quite devastated.
That’s why he would call Reinsdorf and say something absurd like "I want to trade for Hakeem Olajuwon."
The Bulls wanted Olajuwon, either a straight trade for Jordan or with Pippen as the core chip, and the Rockets would almost certainly not agree.
Thinking of trading Jordan directly was madness; upon hearing Krause’s irrational words, Reinsdorf told him to wash his face and cool down, and talk later.
After hanging up the phone, Krause calmed down for a while, realizing that trading for Olajuwon was impractical.
Originally, there was Sam Perkins from the Philadelphia 76ers available on the free market, who did not renew his contract with the 76ers after it expired.
