Michael Jordan vetoed Tracy McGrady trade for Scottie Pippen on draft night
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Tracy McGrady was drafted with the No. 9 pick of the 1997 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors but was nearly a member of the Chicago Bulls until Michael Jordan vetoed a trade.
McGrady told ESPN's The Jump that he was nearly traded to Chicago in exchange for Scottie Pippen, but Jordan did not want the deal to happen.
“What a lot of people don't know about that night is that Jerry Krause was actually trying to make a trade for me and Scottie Pippen,” McGrady said. “MJ called and axed that whole deal.
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McGrady went on to play the first three years of his career in Toronto.
The trade that McGrady mentioned on Wednesday was discussed in Jonathan Abrams' book Boys Among Men: How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution.
