I always think that Jerry Krause is a good talent evaluator and an above average scout. However, he is simply an awful GM due to his lack of interpersonal skills. When you are hated by almost every media in the country, you are a failure, period.
Yeah, there are, like playing in one of the biggest cities in the nation with the chance to make millions in endorsement deals, or playing closer to home or with friends of yours, or for playing with the NBA's premier franchise of the past decade. All of that describes the Bulls. There are more factors that can cause someone to come to a team, but just one factor - the GM - can cause players to go away. As for Pippen - how much have Marshall or (especially) Eddie Robinson proven in their stints in the NBA? Marshall can't stay in one place, and Robinson can't shoot. Pippen? He's just one of the top 50 in history. At the time he left Chicago, he was more than capable of leading that team. Rockets fans were estatic when they got him; don't let discontent jade your view of the type of player he was in his prime.
You mean they haven't revoked his membership and replaced him with Gary Payton yet? Seriously though, I'm not going to complain how good of a player Pippen was. He was an incredible player in his prime. But, leader? Come on. It's a pretty well known fact that Pippen is about as far from being a leader as any player with that much talent can possibly get.
Leader as in making the Bulls a very respectable team. They weren't horrible when Jordan retired the first time and he had to lead that team - in fact, they still were contenders (though not for the title). They would've been in nearly the same boat had they kept Pippen.
We didn't have him in his prime! Chicago was an aged team. Remember, Jordan had already retired once. Krausse hd to remake that entire squad in a very short order. Do you really think he didn't have a plan? He may have changed gears because Miles was unexpectedly snagged by the Clips and then because they made an offer for Brand. You have to be flexible when a crapshoot like the draft is a centerpiece of your re-building strategy.
That's the whole point - if you're making a crapshoot like the draft your re-building strategy then you've got some problems! If you could remind me of the last team that finished in the lottery one year and then won the NBA championship the next year, that'd be much appreciated! It's not about being 'respectable', but making the playoffs is about winning and experience. If you don't win. you don't get used to winning, and then you don't win. Tough cycle - the key is to build a winning mentality and make your team a perennial playoffs team. From there you can move on to add that marquee free agent - why do you think Orlando was atrractive? It's because they had assembled the worst personel in the league and just missed the playoffs by one game because of their tenacity - players like to see that their team-mates play ahrd, that's what attracts the star. I agree that Krause went against conventional wisdom - and you'll agree that plan did nothing for him. The more conventional plan of trading 'swooping on a disgruntled star' seems to be the only thing that has made the Bulls 'respectable' (something you don't seem to like...) - and that has led to the addition of Donyell Marshall (he has someone to play alongside) - something that makes the Bulls even more 'respectable'. And from 'respectableness' the team can start thinking this season about playoffs, and long term about championship.
that's not the point. What I mean is that you first need to have enough potential talent to contend in the future, and then you can start making short term moves to reach the platoffs and gain experience. Winning 50 games as the Pistons did last year, with a veteran team full of overchievers with no upside is different from doing the same with a young team with potential superstars (no, I don't think that the Bulls are going to do it this year, unless one of the tennagers will really have a breakout year). I'm against trying to acquire a superstar through the free agency: really great players, the ones who can really lead you to the ring, rarely change team, and it will be harder and harder under the new CBA, expecially for guys coming out from the rookie contract. It worked for Orlando (but TMac wa drafted under the old CBA, and they actually didn't find a decent big man), but usually you have only an outside shot to land the guy you want. Consider this, in the last 15 years (I have no memory to go further) the only finals or seasons MVP not playing for their original teams were Barkley and Shaq. So, this is may opinion: you have to draft your own superstar, because noone will trade him to you and signing him as a FA will be very hard. no, I don't agree. Maybe because I don't consider winning 20 games a disaster, but the possibility of having an high draft pick. Or maybe because I actually think that the Bulls currently have actually freakish potential. If Curry and Chandler develop like almost every HSer drafted so far the Bulls will be a force in a center starved league. yes but it started only when Krause was sure that he already had enough long term talent in his team.
