Michael Jordan's Near Miss Trade to LA Clippers, Bulls Doubted Jordan's Talent

Back in 1984 and 1988, the Chicago Bulls had potential trade discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers regarding a possibility of sending Michael Jordan to Los Angeles.  Even though Jordan ended up winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls, his greatness was once questioned. Not once, but twice the Clippers attempted to land Jordan, which would've ultimately sabotaged the Bulls' reign.

As reported by Bleacher Report, back in 1984, when trade discussions were being made in reference to the second draft pick of the Bulls, which was obviously Michael Jordan, Chi-town originally had their eyes on L.A.'s Terry Cummings, a 6'9" power forward who averaged approximately 23 points per game. Cummings was also born and raised in Chicago, which made a trade for him quite tempting. This trade involved a three-team deal, which was to include the Dallas Mavericks, could have allowed the Bulls to gain Cummings, and would have presumably led the Clippers to add Jordan to their franchise.

According to Clips Nation, the second time a potential Jordan trade to the Clippers resurfaced was during the 1988 season. This is when Chicago was having doubts in Jordan's irreplaceable talent. Chi-town felt that Jordan's style of place would not suffice for the Bulls to win multiple championships, due to the team's 4-15 record in the playoffs during Jordan's first four seasons with the Bulls.

As per FanSided's Cliperholics, this is when the Clippers offered an "any combination of five players and/or draft picks," deal. Los Angeles had the number 1 and number 6 draft picks during the 1988 season, and according to Sam Smith's book, The Jordan Rules, Donald Sterling was vigorously looking for a player who was on the same level as Magic Johnson of the L.A. Lakers, for headlines. This led back to the Clippers' desperation for Jordan.

At this time, the Bulls were on the verge of being eliminated in the playoffs by the Detroit Pistons. And the Bulls management was taking into consideration the fact that they believed the team would "never win a title because Jordan's style of one-on-one play eliminated the other players as contributors." But since Jordan attracted the fans, which led to the purchasing of merchandise and tickets, the Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, couldn't let Jordan go.

Imagine if Jordan had been traded to the Clippers... the Clippers could've actually had a chance to play in the NBA playoffs, which they've never been able get into. But at the same time, the Chicago Bulls would've never won six back-to-back championships either.