Is Former Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause a Hall of Famer?

It has now been a full week since the NBA Hall of Fame festivities were held. This last class was characterized by many Chicago Bulls getting in, including Dennis Rodman, Artis Gilmore and former assistant coach Tex Winter.

Since Winter entered the hall, former Bulls GM Jerry Krause ended his personal boycott of the Hall of Fame ceremonies. However, with the return of Krause, the question must be asked: does Jerry Krause deserve to be honored as a Hall of Famer? 

There are two distinct arguments to this case, one for and one against. 

Fan sentiment and NBA opinions of Krause are far from good. He is unfavorably remembered for two things: breaking up the dynasty and messing up the early 2000s. Krause was not respected by Phil Jackson and was constantly mocked by Michael Jordan. Jordan went as far as to give Krause the nickname "Crumbs" due to his obese appearance. Even if you think that the dynasty was at its natural end in 1998, Jerry Krause did not make things easy. 

The biggest problem with Krause stems from the pre-Paxson era in Chicago. The first move that jumps out at you is that Krause picked Tim Floyd to coach the team as the "heir-apparent" to the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson.

Floyd was a decent college coach at Iowa State, but barely won over 20 percent of his games in the NBA. However, the most shocking part was that Krause allowed Floyd to be coach for three years. Most coaches don't get one with a record like that.

Not only did Krause's coaching decision crash and burn, but his personnel decisions might have been worse.

Some of the lowlights were trading Rookie of the Year Elton Brand for the second overall pick in the worst draft ever, drafting Tyson Chandler over Pau Gasol with that pick, drafting Eddy Curry over Jason Richardson, trading Ron Artest and Brad Miller for Jalen Rose, drafting Marcus Fizer and drafting Jay Williams who proceeded to destroy his career in a motorcycle accident (not Jerry's fault, but it's a trend).

Despite all of that wrong, in my opinion Jerry belongs in the Hall of Fame. 

Many general managers make mistakes, but very very few general managers have the skill to create a whole team around one player. In 1985, Jerry Krause had Jordan and crap. By 1991, Krause had built a core that would go on to win six titles. No fool can accomplish that. 

In my opinion, historically, GMs should be judged on their greatest successes. Krause had perhaps the highest highs of any general manager. In 1987, Krause not only found the engine who would do the dirty work for the first title run in Horace Grant, but also drafted a top-50 all-time player out of Central Arkansas of all places. While Scottie Pippen was known to be an intriguing prospect, Jerry Krause was the guy who took a big chance on him. 

Jerry also made two gutsy trades that set the table for each three-peat. Before the first run, Krause traded Jordan's friend Charles Oakley for Bill Cartwright. For the second title run, Krause traded center Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman. In both scenarios, the moves worked out as well as they could have. There is talk that Krause had to be talked into Rodman and that he still wasn't sure about it. The bottom line is that he made the move. 

Perhaps Krause's biggest accomplishment was discovering the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson, and the mastermind of the most unstoppable offense of the '90s, Tex Winter.

While it's exaggeration that Krause went to the wilderness of Arkansas to find Pippen and that he hiked for miles to see Tony Kukoc play, he really did pull Phil Jackson out of nowhere. How much out of nowhere? Jackson was coaching in the Puerto Rican league when Krause hired him as an assistant. Tex Winter taught him the triangle and the rest is history. 

Ultimately GMs, in my opinion, have to be judged on their highs. Every general manager has periods where they don't win, but very few have periods where they win six titles in eight years. Anyone else who has managed to construct that kind of success is already in the Hall of Fame, and Jerry Krause deserves to join them.