Krause Resigns as General Manager!!!

[Brave Sir Rubin]

dunno if this was posted on the site...but oh well...

Krause Resigns as General Manager


“I take great pride in what we’ve accomplished here," Krause said. "The staff, players and coaches will always be a bright spot in my heart."
April 7, 2003 -- Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Jerry Krause resigned today.
Krause, 64, who played a major role in building Bulls World Championship teams and is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year said: “The rigors and stress of the job have caused me some minor physical problems in the past few years. Those problems can be eliminated if I lessen my load for a while and concentrate on overcoming them. My first obligation is to accomplish that for my wife, children and grandchildren.

“It is only fair to the players and staff that Jerry Reinsdorf be able to select my successor as soon as possible prior to the draft just as he did with me on March 26, 1985.

“I take great pride in what we’ve accomplished here. The staff, players and coaches will always be a bright spot in my heart.

“Upon leaving I’m very confident that we have assembled the key pieces so that the franchise can return to the NBA’s elite teams in the very near future.

“I am not retiring. I’m going to take some time off and spend it with my family before making any decision on my future. I will leave my options open.

“I want to thank Jerry Reinsdorf for giving me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream, to be able to general manage a team in my birthplace, the greatest city in the world.

“I have chosen not to have a press conference with regard to this announcement. This was an extremely hard decision to make and I believe there is no need to belabor it.”

STATEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN JERRY REINSDORF

“Jerry Krause is one of a kind. He brought with him a vision of how to build a champion and he proceeded to create one of the most dominant champions of all time. No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the World Champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint. There would not have been a Coach Phil Jackson. There would not have been Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Dennis Rodman, or a host of others who wore Bulls uniforms during those championship seasons. He creatively surrounded the best player in the world, Michael Jordan, with the kind of talent to be a consistent and exciting winner.

“I am already considering successors and plan to announce one within the next month. It is vital that the new general manager be in place as soon as possible to evaluate talent both on the current team and throughout the league to take maximum advantage of the upcoming draft and free agent signing season. We now have the nucleus for the next elite Bulls team and are enthusiastic about our prospects for the next few seasons.

“Personally, Jerry has always been a battler and the Bulls support his decision to put his health first. We wish him, and his family, the very best.”

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/krause_030407.html

judge for yourself...

[TheBob]

I'm glad for Bulls fans, it was time for a change and hopefully they can have a good offseason and start heading in the right direction.

[Colin]

YES

[Andrew]

Too late, too late!

Krause made some great moves back in the 80s - snaring Pippen and Grant in the 1987 draft - though he made some bad ones as well (taking Stacey King 6th overall in '89 ahead of, say, Tim Hardaway or Shawn Kemp - at least he got Armstrong at 18 that year).

Rodman for Will Perdue was great, but taking Jason Caffey ahead of Michael Finley? Trading Scottie Pippen for Roy Rogers and a second round draft pick?

He mentioned he isn't retiring - perhaps Elgin Baylor could step down so Krause can take over on the Clippers. He would fit in Sterling's plans to let talent go without adequate compensation.

[Bill Russell]

Amem.

It was about time for Krause to step down. The Bulls need to follow a new direction.

[air gordon]

2 rebuidling plans later.. finally

[Stevan]

5 years too late fat ass. MJ FOR GM!!!!

perhaps Elgin Baylor could step down so Krause can take over on the Clippers. He would fit in Sterling's plans to let talent go without adequate compensation.

LMAO

[mp3]

you can diss Krause all you like but what he did do for the bulls IMO was put together the best team in the 90's. if you look around the league's gm's today you will find that they all suck and all make bad draft picks from time to time, you just have to look at scott layden the knicks gm he thought that Frederic Weis was a good pick!!

[Andrew]

Krause did put together a great team. He did make some wise moves that assembled a team that was able to produce six titles in the 90s. But he also gained a reputation for treating players poorly. The way in which he treated Scottie Pippen during the 97/98 season, the way he alienated Phil Jackson - it came back to haunt the franchise during the big free agent summer of 2000.

Also, in this age of rebuilding the Bulls, he has made too many turns, too many twists, too many changes of plan. He did a good job in the late 80s of putting together a championship winning ballclub. But he's also made moves that make Bulls fans like myself glad to see his departure, and feel a little more optimistic about the future.

[mp3]

Krause did put together a great team. He did make some wise moves that assembled a team that was able to produce six titles in the 90s. But he also gained a reputation for treating players poorly. The way in which he treated Scottie Pippen during the 97/98 season, the way he alienated Phil Jackson - it came back to haunt the franchise during the big free agent summer of 2000.

Also, in this age of rebuilding the Bulls, he has made too many turns, too many twists, too many changes of plan. He did a good job in the late 80s of putting together a championship winning ballclub. But he's also made moves that make Bulls fans like myself glad to see his departure, and feel a little more optimistic about the future.

i guess this is one of those "agree to disagree" situations

dont get me wrong, you are right in every way and as you are a bulls fan i can see why you are happy, i also agree that maybe Krause was 5 years to late in leaving

but i personally feel that if there where a few more people like Krause around then there would be a lot less overpaid players not producing the goods

[Andrew]

Which is why he might be a perfect fit with the Clippers.

I know what you're saying though, he's not completely incompetent. I guess it's hard for Bulls fans to focus on the good moves he made when his blunders in recent years have made us endure losing seasons after six titles in the 90s.

[mp3]

I guess it's hard for Bulls fans to focus on the good moves he made when his blunders in recent years have made us endure losing seasons after six titles in the 90s.

true

[Stevan]

The transition from champions to laughing stock was always the problem, he let go 2 of the games greatest players, who people were always going to side with. The aim I thought was to rebuild on the fly as they say, and he failed miserably.
Me and Andrew were talking before about the Michael Finley blunder. Imagine if they did pick Finley, he probably would have had a breakout year in 98 during Pippens absence, or the following year after MJ left, and the Bulls probably wouldn't have slipped as far as they did.
There was also the Elton Brand trade, the Bulls might have actually been in the hunt for the playoffs this season had they kept him.
I give Krumbs credit for getting Pippen and Grant, and BJ, but seriously with Mj and Pip, how hard would it have been to surround them with descent role players?
Credit to him for some of the good moves he pulled off, and a big "kiss my ass" for the dismantling of the Dynasty, the Pippen trade, the continuous drafting of Power Forwards (Simpkins, Caffey, Fizer, Baxter) when they are uneeded, Dalibor Bagaric, the Horace Grant fiasco (another player he helped alienate)... and the list goes on.

A new day has begun. Lets look into the past and bring back MJ I say

[Boyk]

Too late, too late!

Krause made some great moves back in the 80s - snaring Pippen and Grant in the 1987 draft - though he made some bad ones as well (taking Stacey King 6th overall in '89 ahead of, say, Tim Hardaway or Shawn Kemp - at least he got Armstrong at 18 that year).

Rodman for Will Perdue was great, but taking Jason Caffey ahead of Michael Finley? Trading Scottie Pippen for Roy Rogers and a second round draft pick?

He mentioned he isn't retiring - perhaps Elgin Baylor could step down so Krause can take over on the Clippers. He would fit in Sterling's plans to let talent go without adequate compensation.

are you kidding Andrew??
i never knew that lol
he traded Pippen for Roy Rogers and a 2nd rnd pick LOL
and drafted stacey king ahead of Tim Hardaway!! Shawn Kemp!!
well its good hes going!!

[mp3]

he traded Pippen for Roy Rogers and a 2nd rnd pick

i think that was a sign and trade deal, pip wanted to leave anyway and the bulls wanted something in return.
but yer that was a bum deal, they could of got a lot more for him

[air gordon]

a discussion of krause's good/mad moves and whether he was a good/bad GM could go on for quite a while...

but here's something to think about:

i find it strange that Krause is resigning for 'health reasons'. after reading several articles from chicago papers- to me it sounds like the organiztion was pushing him out the door. he has no major health problems and he has never been the type to quit, especially when the young talent he put together is starting to play well.

i liken this situation to the doug collins and the point a to b to c situation. phil jackson was brought in to replace collins because management thought collins had taken the bulls as far as he could. and now krause has brought in some young talent. but he has gotten too close with these young guys, treats them like they are his kids. and that my clouden his judgement to go out and deal one of them for some proven, veteran talent. it is obvious the bulls need to surround their core of youngsters with reliable vets and krause may be to stubborn to do so. so now it's time for someone else to be brought in, to bring the bulls to point C.

[Andrew]

are you kidding Andrew??
i never knew that lol
he traded Pippen for Roy Rogers and a 2nd rnd pick LOL
and drafted stacey king ahead of Tim Hardaway!! Shawn Kemp!!
well its good hes going!!

I wish I was kidding, but it's the sad truth. And you're right mp3, Pip was on the way out, but as you said, much more could be demanded in return...when the Rockets traded Pip to Portland, they received six players for him. Food for thought.

I think limp brought up a good point, that it might not necessarily be Krause's decision alone, a situation where he has been "encouraged" to leave. I think Krause hadn't gone as far as he could with the Bulls (thankfully), rather I think the feeling is that they need to go in a new direction with the team they currently have, and that Krause's reputation is going to continue to hurt them when dealing with free agents.

[RedTorro]

It was about time, according to some article on espn the guy just burned too many bridges. Hopefully Chicago can finally land some solid free agents and not some SOB's looking for a pay check (Eddie Robinson and Ron Mercer for example).

[Rens]

I don't think you can fault GMs for draft "mistakes", it's always a crapshoot... there's always a chance you get the next Arenas, but just as big a chance at the next Alex Radojevic (I resisted the temptation of picking a player selected by a team other than the Raptors )

[Alex Italo]

Krause managed to build a great team in the late 80s, but nowadays he was having big trouble to rebuild the team like he never could do that.

Maybe rebuilding is a lot harder than building a team (after all, Bulls was pratically nothing until the late 80s.). The fans and even the management got used to win and there are all the pressure of rebuild a team that used to be top level and suddenly became a doormat with a "Welcome" sign written on it.

I really didn't like when Brand was traded but I hope that the Baby Bulls show me that I was wrong.

[Rens]

I don't see the difference between rebuilding a team and building a team? Only one and that's you probably were good before rebuilding while that's not needed for building (which sounds like you start from scratch).
But I don't see anything different in the process.

[Andrew]

I think the main difference is patience. Management, the fans, everyone seems to be a little more patient the first couple of years of an expansion Franchise, but when a team is in a rebuilding phase, usually there is the lingering memory of better days, opportunities lost, bad decisions, and of course the memory of how the team was broken up - so everyone isn't as patient, and are hoping for a quick fix.

On the subject of Michael Jordan joining the Bulls as an executive, he's apparently considering all options.

[Alex Italo]

That's exactly what I was trying to say.

For instance, Krause at some point wasn't known as the guy who assembled a great team but he was known as the guy who let everyone go away.
And if you notice now every bit of news about the Bulls always has a remark like "since the 97-98 season","rebuilding plan", etc.
Even the press got used to see the Bulls as winners... so did the fans and management. Patience is definetly something that many fans (and team owners) don't have.

[mp3]

looks like john paxson will be named GM today

http://www.nba.com/bulls/

[Andrew]

Paxson the Bulls' Man

No return to Chicago for Michael Jordan, but Pax should do a good job.