Olden Polynice -- MJ Woulda Had 3 More Rings ... Had Bulls Kept Me Over Pippen

The Chicago Bulls made a HUUUGE mistake when they traded Olden Polynice for Scottie Pippen back in 1987 ... so says O.P. who claims the team would've won THREE MORE RINGS.

The 49-year-old ex-NBA star was out in L.A. this week and talked about the blockbuster trade from the '87 NBA Draft ... when he was selected by the Bulls as the 8th overall pick -- but was then immediately traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Pippen.

"We were never SUPPOSED to be traded," Olden tells us ... "If I had played for Chicago, we woulda won more titles."

"And I didn't have migraines early on in my career ... I've never had migraines like Scottie ... so there were a couple of years they really could've beaten Detroit ... and they didn't."

BTW -- Scottie was ranked as one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA ... but Olden says that stat doesn't matter -- he would have been the better man for the Bulls.

In fact, O.P. says had the Bulls kept him -- instead of Pippen -- they would've won at least 3 more titles (9 overall) ... and Michael Jordan "woulda been knockin' on Bill Russell's door."