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Thursday, July 19, 2001
Oakley returns to Bulls in trade
Associated Press
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| Oakley |
CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause went
looking for veteran leadership and found one of his favorite
players.
Charles Oakley is coming back to the Bulls, acquired Friday in a
trade with the Toronto Raptors. The Bulls also get a second-round
pick in exchange for forward Brian Skinner.
"Oak's always been a joy to me because of the kind of person he
is," Krause said. "Charles is a natural born leader. He'll be
great with our younger players. They're going to have to follow him
because he will demand it and he'll get it done.
"He wants his teammates to play as hard as he does, and he's
disappointed when they don't."
And when Oakley's unhappy, he's not shy about it. He was a
frequent critic of the Raptors organization and ripped Vince Carter
during the first round of the playoffs, saying Carter needed to
carry more of the offensive load.
The verbal shot caused quite a stir -- though Carter responded by
scoring 32 points -- and Oakley asked to be traded after the Raptors
lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"I sat with Oak for a little bit and talked to him about it,
and he was adamant. I just thought it was best we move on,"
Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald said.
"He's happy with the situation in Chicago there, and we're
happy to accommodate his trade request while at the same time
acquire a good young player with a lot of potential."
Skinner, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 4.1 points and 4.3
rebounds in 39 games for the Clippers last year. Toronto also will
get a one-year trade exception.
Oakley has one year left on a contract that will pay him $7.5
million, including a 15 percent trade kicker. The move was the
second in as many days for the Bulls, who reached an agreement with
Eddie Robinson on Thursday on a five-year, $32 million contract.
Neither deal will be official until Wednesday, the first day
free agents are allowed to sign contracts. Oakley was driving to
Atlanta for a charity event and wasn't available Friday, but Bill
Diamond, his business manager, said Oakley is happy about the move.
"Would he prefer to play for a championship contender?
Absolutely, but he understands this is a business," Diamond said.
"He loves (Chicago), he spends a tremendous amount of time
there in the offseason. He still has very close friends that he
met his rookie year. And he loves the fans there because they're
blue-collar fans who appreciate his work ethic and what he's going
to bring."
Oakley, one of only six active players with at least 10,000
points and rebounds, has long been one of Krause's favorites.
Krause even has a picture of Oakley on his office wall -- though
Oakley hasn't worn a Bulls uniform since 1988.
Originally selected by Cleveland in the 1985 draft, he was
immediately traded to the Bulls. Though he was part of a
talent-laden team -- he played alongside Michael Jordan, Scottie
Pippen, John Paxson and Horace Grant -- the Bulls needed a true
center to win an NBA title.
So Krause traded Oakley to New York for Bill Cartwright before
the 1988 draft. Cartwright was the final piece of Chicago's first
three championship teams and remains with the Bulls as an assistant
coach. But Krause still says that trade was one of the hardest he
ever made because he liked Oakley so much.
"He's a quality person," said Krause, who talked with Oakley
for about an hour Thursday night. "And a person who really loves
the game and really appreciates the game."
Oakley is going to find the Bulls in much different shape than
he left them. The youngest team in the NBA last year, they got even
younger on draft day when they picked high schooler Eddy Curry and
traded former No. 1 pick Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers
for the rights to Tyson Chandler, another high schooler.
The rest of the Bulls aren't much further removed from the
romper room. Ron Mercer is the most experienced player on the
current roster, and he's played a whopping five years.
That's where Oakley comes in.
"You need a veteran in your locker room to mentor the young
guys in the league," Diamond said. "Charles, despite being 37
years old, is still in touch with young guys as well as old guys."
But Oakley is more than an overpriced baby sitter. He was
Toronto's second-leading rebounder last year, averaging 9.5
rebounds in 35.5 minutes a game. He also averaged 9.6 points,
fourth-best on the Raptors, and a career-high 3.4 assists.
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