4. Traded Will Perdue For Dennis Rodman
This is the second greatest trade Krause ever pulled off. In the fall of 1995, Jordan was back in the fold and the Bulls were aiming to regain the NBA throne after being knocked off in the second round each of the previous two seasons. But they needed to fill the void that Horace Grant left at power forward when he went to Orlando as a free agent.
So Krause sent center Will Perdue to the Spurs for their old “Bad Boys” enemy Dennis Rodman. The Worm wanted out of San Antonio because they tried to micromanage and control his flamboyant antics on and off the floor. Spurs management was ready to be rid of Rodman, too. They gladly took Perdue, a ho-hum center who never dazzled at the NBA level. No draft pick thrown in, no pick swap, no cash considerations. Rodman for Perdue, straight up. One of those guys is a Hall of Famer. The other…is not.
Krause knew that his zen master coach could handle Rodman’s personality, and jumped at the opportunity. Rodman became the new Grant, and once again the Bulls had a Big Three for their second threepeat. The new-look Bulls went 72-10, and Rodman earned All-Defensive 1st Team honors. He led the league in rebounds per game in all three of his seasons in Chicago. The tattooed and hair-dyed enigma also pulled down the most offensive rebounds in two of those three seasons.
As Rodman’s off-court antics became big headlines, most front offices around the NBA shied away from him. Not Krause. He saw The Worm as the missing piece to the puzzle, and executed a trade that set up three more championship runs.
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