Arrival of Michael Jordan

The Chicago Bulls had the 3rd pick in the offseason of 1984. The first pick was Hakeem Olajuwon selected by the Rockets and Sam Bowie selected by the Portland Trailblazers.

The Bulls acquired Michael Jordan as the third pick and it will change the history of the Bulls forever. Jordan had broken and set records as he lead the league 3rd in scoring and 4th in steals as a rookie. He also led them back to the playoffs, and was named Rookie of the Year.

In the offseason next season, they got John Paxson and on the day of the draft, traded with the Cavaliers for the rights to Charles Oakley. They advanced through the playoffs as the 8th seed and faced the 67-15 Celtics led by Larry Bird. The Bulls were swept but there was a notable game that Jordan had scored 63 points and Larry Bird has quoted that “God disguised as Michael Jordan”.

In the next season, Michael Jordan had broken another record with his unbelievable 37.1 points per game average. He was the first of the franchise to be named in the All-NBA first team. The Bulls would finish 40-42 record that qualified them to the postseason.

They were swept again by the Celtics. On the 1987 draft, they got Olden Polynice as the 8th overall and Horace Grant as the 10th overall. They traded Polynice to the Seattle Supersonics to acquire Scottie Pippen.Their backcourt consists of Paxson and Jordan, Brad Sellers and Oakley as their forwards and Corzine as their Center and rookies Pippen and Grant as their backups.

They would improve in winning 50 games as they advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in the playoffs. They were defeated by the Detroit Pistons in 5 five games who would later on win the NBA title that season. Jordan was named his first Most Valuable Player award out of four later on. It was the start of the Pistons-Bulls rivalry that would later on grew more that span from 1987 to 1991.

In the offseason of 1988-89 season, they traded Charles Oakley to the New York Knicks with a round 1 draft pick used by the Knicks for Rod Strickland for Center Bill Cartwright and another first round pick that used to obtain Will Perdue. They also got Craig Hodges from the Phoenix Suns. Their new lineup consisting of Paxson, Jordan, Pippen, Grant and Cartwright had made it until the Eastern Conference Finals until they fell against the Detroit Pistons in game 6.

In 1989-90 season, Jordan had led the league in scoring in fourth straight years. Doug Collins was replaced by Phil Jackson. In the draft, they acquired BJ Armstrong and Stacey King. They again faced the Pistons in the Conference Finals and lost for the third straight years.

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