18Dec/084:00 AM

Pick and Roll: The Best and Worst Trades in Suns History

By Steve Fan

For this week’s Pick and Roll, following the big J-Rich deal, Mark of BJD glory and I decided to discuss the best and worst trades in Suns history.

There are some good ones and some real stinkers. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

The Best Trades

Steve Fan: Any list of the best trades in Suns history has to start with Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson.

1. Acquired Charles Barkley from Philadelphia for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang (1992). Sir Charles took the Suns to the Finals and was the NBA MVP that year. What else could we add. Hornacek played some solid seasons alongside Karl Malone and John Stockton in Utah but the trade has to be remembered as the best in Suns’ history. Charles averaged 24 points and 11 boards per game in his 4 seasons with Phoenix and added some legendary performances in the post season.

2. Acquired Kevin Johnson, Mark West, Ty Corbin, 1st and 2nd rd. picks (’88), and Lakers’ 2nd rd. pick (’89) from Cleveland for Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and Detroit’s 1st rd. pick (’88). (1988). While Nance (a 7-year Suns veteran) had a few very good years in Cleveland, winning the Slam Dunk contest and making the All Star team, K.J. became a legend. That’s it. By the way that Cavs pick was used by the Suns to select Thunder Dan.

3. Acquired Jason Kidd with Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer from Dallas for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell, A.C. Green and 2nd rd. pick. (1996). Kidd went on to become the best PG in the game. Sure he was acquired for 3 good players, so this is not a lopsided deal at all, but Kidd averaged 14.4 points, 9.7 assists and over 6 rebounds per game in his 5 years in Phoenix leading the Suns to the Playoffs every year.

Mark: There’s no doubt the Barkley and KJ trades belong at the top of the many transactions the Suns have put through over the years. Both drastically changed the franchise in a great way and will always be looked on as a high point in Suns history.

I’ll switch their places though, and put a different trade in my third spot.

1. While Barkley brought the Suns to the brink of a championship, the KJ trade (and subsequent Majerle pick) put the Suns back on the map and helped to erase an ugly drug scandal. This move was Colangelo’s first imprint on the team after taking over as owner, and a sign of great things to come. That Mark West fellow was a nice bonus too.

2. An arena and star player helped usher in a new era for the Suns. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the Bulls made sure Barkley’s first season didn’t end with a championship, but the impact of the trade was still incredible. Phoenix’s love for the Suns grew to since unmatched proportions, and the Suns became an increasingly viable destination for free agents. The bright lights were on in Phoenix, they played an exciting brand of basketball, and the team was owned by a very well-respected man.

3. Jason Kidd’s exit from the Suns for a domestic disturbance doesn’t help the case for the Suns trade for him, but I still feel Bryan Colangelo’s drugging of Isiah Thomas, where the former Piston great awoke to find both Stephon Marbury and Anfernee Hardaway on his practice court, was a huge move for the Suns. They kissed a couple of horrible contracts goodbye and ended up signing a future two-time MVP who would be the perfect engine for Mike D’Antoni’s :07 or less system. This move started another exciting era for the franchise.

Honorable mention - if Sarver and JJ had somehow seen eye to eye, the trade of Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk to Boston for an up to that point underachieving swingman would be tough to keep out of the top 3 Suns trades. Kerr jettisoned Raja Bell because the team needed an upgrade at the 2. JJ had it all. I’m starting to feel sick.

The Worst Trades

Steve Fan: First of all, I’d like to make a special mention for “The trade that never happened”, the Stoudemire for Kevin Garnett of the Summer of 2007. We would be celebrating a Championship Suns team right now. Did you see the Celtics? Two great players (Pierce and KG), some solid performers and a few specialists. You don’t need to build an All Star team to win the NBA title, it just doesn’t work that way. Steve Kerr won one playing with Jordan, he should know that.

Other than that, here are a few bad ones:

1. Acquired Rick Robey and two 2nd rd. picks (’83) from Boston for Dennis Johnson and 1st rd. pick (’83). (1983). The late D.J. went on to play for one of the greatest team in NBA history. He guided a legendary Celtics team to multiple championships with Bird, Ainge, McHale, Parrish and Co.

2. Acquired Stephon Marbury, Soumaila Samake, Johnny Newman from New Jersey for Jason Kidd, Chris Dudley; (2001). Marbury for Kidd after a few years this deal looks even worse.

T3. Acquired Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant, Sam Cassell and Robert Horry from Houston for Charles Barkley and 2nd rd. pick (’99). (1996). Suns tried to rebuild sending Charles to Houston. Phoenix got 3 decent players plus Sam I am but the rebuilding project failed miserably.

T3. The draft day trade that sent Rudy Fernandez (in case you missed Rudy in his rookie year is averaging over 11 points per game with the Blazers) for cash considerations. Had the Suns kept him they could have used Diaw (or Barbosa) to find a good back up point guard without having to worry about offensive production from the 2 spot. It has the potential to be a really bad one if Fernandez keeps playing like that.

Mark: The Suns haven’t made a huge number of bad deals in franchise history but there are definitely a few stinkers:

1. Barkley to the Rockets for spare change and a couple of first class jerks is the easy choice here. Sam Cassell and Robert Horry wanted nothing to do with Phoenix after winning a couple of championships in Houston, and took no time in voicing their displeasure with their situation. Definitely an ugly chapter in Suns history.

2. Robert Sarver is a good businessman but you wouldn’t be able to tell from his dealings with Bryan Colangelo, Joe Johnson, and Mike D’Antoni. It may be a stretch to say he’s hurt the franchise more than helped it, and it’s impossible to predict the future if he hadn’t mucked up a perfect situation, but he’ll never be Jerry Colangelo.

3. Jason Kidd had to go but dealing for a ball-pounding point guard with a bloated contract and bad attitude was a panic move at its finest. Bryan Colangelo had some highs as the general manager of the Suns, and this wasn’t one of them.
Honorable mention - I suppose Quentin Richardson for Krazy Eyes. This was the first move towards normalcy for the D’Antoni era and not a good sign of things to come.

And then some more…

Steve Fan: Jury still out on the two biggest trade in recent Suns history: The Shaq for Marion deal and the ”still smoking” Richardson for Bell and Diaw exchange. History will tell soon…

The Shaq trade will be judged after next season and it will be very simple. Suns make NBA Finals: YES=Good trade, NO=Bad trade. I still think the Suns could have gotten a better player. Gasol for Marion maybe? I still don’t like it.

On paper, the J-Rich deal made sense for both teams but please stop the Gasol-for-Nothing comparison. The Suns gave up two good basketball players to get Richardson.

Mark: Only time will tell how Kerr’s big moves will pay off for the Suns. The trade for Shaq doesn’t look as awful as it once did, as the big man is playing his best basketball in years, and as Shawn Marion continues to look lost without Coach D and Steve Nash.

For now, the move to acquire Jason Richardson for Diaw and Raja is a stroke of genius.

Thanks Mark.

Yours truly, Steve Fan

PS For a complete record of every deal in Suns history you could check the 2008-09 Suns Media Guide.