Hakeem Olajuwon was the first pick in the 1984 NBA draft, followed by Sam Bowie, a big man from Kentucky whose career was marred by injuries.
The Chicago Bulls and then-general manger Rod Thorn were up next. Thorn picked Michael Jordan, the player of his generation, but noted Tuesday on ESPN 1000’s Kap & Company show with NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan that he was fielding offers from multiple teams, including the Sixers.
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The 1984 draft didn’t turn out too badly for the Sixers, who stayed put at No. 5 and selected Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. The Mavs took Jordan’s North Carolina teammate Sam Perkins with the fourth pick.
So, what were the Sixers offering in exchange for Jordan?
One proposed deal involved trading superstar Julius Erving for the third pick and the right to draft Jordan.
“I thought I had a deal with Jonathan Kovler [then the principal owner] of the Bulls for the third pick,” Harold Katz, then the Sixers’ owner, told Pat Williams, the team's GM from 1974 to 1986, in the book Pat Williams’ Tales from the Philadelphia 76ers.
NBA
Katz said that Thorn killed the trade, but he “would have made that deal.”
Jordan went on to average 30.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in his career against the Sixers, knocking the team out of the playoffs in 1990 and 1991.
The Sixers lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in Barkley’s rookie year and have only been back once since then.
However strong the offers Thorn received were, we imagine sticking with Jordan was the right decision in every single possible scenario.
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