Bulls owner dismisses rumors

[rjm <robert900@hotmail.com>]

Bulls owner dismisses rumors of Pippen's trade to Boston


(c) 1997 Copyright Nando.net
(c) 1997 Associated Press

CHICAGO (Jun 25, 1997 - 15:14 EDT) -- The Boston Celtics' trade offer
for Scottie Pippen hasn't been accepted, Chicago Bulls owner Jerry
Reinsdorf said Wednesday.

"He's still a Chicago Bull," Reinsdorf told WGN-TV hours before the NBA
draft. "Some of the rumors that have been out are true and some have
been totally fictitious. It's amazing how these things circulate.

"But (Bulls general manager) Jerry Krause is listening to proposals,
which is what we do every year. We listen to proposals for all of our
players, except Michael (Jordan).

"At this point in time, he hasn't said 'yes' to anything."

According to published and broadcast reports, the Celtics were
interested in giving their two first-round draft picks, numbers three
and six overall, for Pippen and center Luc Longley.

Even though Pippen has helped Chicago win five NBA titles in seven
years, including the last two, the team is thinking about trading one of
basketball's best all-around players because he can be a free agent
after next season. Reinsdorf also is concerned that the Bulls have
several older marquee players, including the 31-year-old Pippen and
Jordan, 34.

It doesn't appear a trade could be made today because of the salary-cap
situations involving Chicago and Boston, meaning a deal could be agreed
upon but not completed for a while.

"I don't know if there's a leading contender, but since Boston already
went public and verified that they have made a proposal to us, I can
tell you that yes, they have made a proposal," Reinsdorf said. "But it's
not one that Jerry Krause has accepted."

Other teams supposedly interested in Pippen include Golden State,
Philadelphia, Denver, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"They have to make a change, if change is inevitable -- which it always
is -- and if they make the choice to do it now, then they have a very
tough and difficult decision to make which is not going to be popular,"
Bulls coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday night on Chicago radio station
WMVP.

For weeks, rumors have circulated about the Bulls shopping Pippen.
Whether he stays or goes has wide-ranging implications for the team.

Jordan has threatened to retire if Jackson doesn't stay and has
intimated that  he'll quit if Pippen goes. Jordan made $30.14 million
last season and could command upward of $40 million for 1997-98. Pippen
is set to make $2.7 million next season in the final year of an
eight-year contract.

Dennis Rodman, 36, also is a free agent. While the return of Pippen,
Jordan and Jackson wouldn't guarantee Rodman's return, the departure of
those three would ensure the Worm's departure.

Jackson, meanwhile, has said he will stay another year only if he likes
the team's makeup.

This isn't the first time Pippen trade rumors have surfaced around draft
time. In 1994, a deal that would have sent Pippen to Seattle for Shawn
Kemp was done. But at the last minute, spurred by negative public
reaction, Sonics owner Barry Ackerley called off the deal.

And in 1987, Pippen was traded on draft day -- to the Bulls. Chicago
sent their first-round pick that year, Olden Polynice, to Seattle in
probably the best deal in Bulls history.

"Every time there's a draft, there's a chance of me getting traded,"
Pippen said recently. "When you don't have control, it bothers you, but
you realize it's the nature of this business."

If the Bulls don't make any deals, they will draft 28th -- the last pick
of the opening round.

A year ago, they took center Travis Knight with the final pick and then
didn't sign him for salary cap reasons. Knight went on to have a
productive season with the Lakers and such a scenario could develop
again.

As has been the case in each of the last four drafts, the Bulls are
expected to draft for size. Possibilities include 7-foot-3 North
Carolina center Serge Zwikker, 7-foot Australian Chris Anstey, 6-11
Jason Lawson of Villanova or Wisconsin's 7-footer Paul Grant.