Pistons Trade Woolridge to Bucks for Robertson as Deadline Passes

The Detroit Pistons traded a forward on Thursday, but it wasn’t Dennis Rodman.

The Milwaukee Bucks obtained Orlando Woolridge from Detroit for guard Alvin Robertson in a deal subject to the players passing physical exams.

The 6-foot-9 Woolridge, 33, a sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls out of Notre Dame in 1981, is recovering from surgery to repair a broken bone in his right hand.

Obtained by the Pistons in a 1991 trade with the Denver Nuggets, Woolridge played in 132 consecutive games before the injury. He is expected to be sidelined until the middle of March.

The 6-4 Robertson, 30, missed 14 games in January because of a bulging disk in his lower back and returned to action Feb. 1. He has averaged 8.7 points in 39 appearances, including 32 as a starter.

Buck Coach Mike Dunleavy said Robertson no longer fit into the team’s young corps of guards, while Woolridge gives the team “more size and athleticism at our forward spot.”

Rodman, the NBA’s leading rebounder, had been rumored to be traded before Thursday’s deadline.

“As the packages unfolded, we weren’t able to make a deal for Dennis,” said Billy McKinney, the Pistons’ director of player personnel. “As the deals unfolded, we felt teams would make us a stronger pitch. The deal didn’t present itself and we stated we wouldn’t just give Dennis Rodman away.”

In the only other deal, the Golden State Warriors sent forward Ed Nealy to the Chicago Bulls for a conditional second-round pick in the 2001 draft.