People often forget, but Jamal Crawford was a Chicago Bull for four seasons before his stints with the Clippers and Knicks began. From 2000-2004, Crawford was lighting it up for the Bulls and there was a lot of optimism that he could help end their rebuild.
Needless to say, that wasn’t the case and Jamal was on another team by ’04 and the Bulls have yet to return to their former glory since. Still, it doesn’t mean they didn’t try.
According to Crawford, then-Bulls GM Jerry Krause was attempting to acquire three superstars in the same summer. It was during his rookie season in 2000.
“So, obviously, MJ just retired so we have all this cap space. And, so, we have all these rookies and he was like ‘we’re gonna get Grant, Tim, TMac were all free agents and Jerry whole-heartedly believed we were gonna get all three of them.”
Jamal Crawford says Jerry Krause tried to add Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in one off-season
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Krause was pretty confident in his abilities as a GM — this much is no secret. In fact, he once delivered a speech in which he placed the value of his own role to the team above that of players and coaches.
Still, they were the Bulls and the fame they had built in the 90s alone was enough to make them one of the premier teams in the NBA. But, as we know, the team was unable to lure in any of those players that year.
Had they, we likely would have seen another dynasty dominate the league. But all Bulls fans can do now is dream.
