Top-10 Best Trades in Phoenix Suns History

1. 1988 Blockbuster

Within the throngs of what was at the time the worst era for basketball in Phoenix Suns history, General Manager and new majority owner Jerry Colangelo pulled off what is still to this day the franchise’s best and most important trade.

Literally moments before the February 25, 1988 trade deadline, and with the Cleveland Cavaliers in house for an evening matchup, the Suns and Cavs swapped a bus load of players for what amounted to be the biggest blockbuster the Suns have ever been apart of.

The trade was as follows:

Phoenix Acquired:
Kevin Johnson
Mark West
Tyrone Corbin
Cleveland 1988 first-round pick (Dan Majerle)
Cleveland 1988 second-round pick (Dean Garrett)
Lakers’ 1989 second-round pick (Greg Grant)

Cleveland Acquired:
Larry Nance
Mike Sanders
Detroit 1988 first-round pick (Randolph Keys)

Needing to distance themselves from the drug scandal and the players involved that had torn the franchise apart the previous year, the Suns had traded away Jay Humphries the same day and James Edwards the day before, each with minimal return.

However, the team’s biggest trade chip was 29-year-old Larry Nance, a former All-Star, who was beloved by Phoenix and returned the pleasant affection. Nance was still a star in the league and a very productive power forward at the time of the transaction. Averaging 21.1 points, 9.9 rebounds

and 2.4 blocks during the ‘87-‘88 season, Nance was a highly coveted player for a playoff contending team in Cleveland that would immediately plant him in their starting lineup ready to take on the powerhouse teams of the East.

In exchange the Suns received a package of players who were each in their own right actually a little risky of a bet.

Mark West was a former second-round pick with promise, but was more of an enforcer than a scorer. By the time of his trade to Phoenix he was on his fourth team in less than five seasons, having been waived by the first two.

Kevin Johnson was a small traditional point guard out of Cal, a lottery pick the prior summer, but in Cleveland was playing behind the up-and-coming Mark Price. Thus, even with his collegiate pedigree, KJ was expendable by the team who had just drafted him only eight months prior – not necessarily the highest endorcement.

Tyrone Corbin was a ‘tweener’ before the term existed, and too had been a second-round pick who had been waived once prior to his trade to Phoenix.

Next: Top-10 Highest Scoring Games in Suns History

As history shows, Kevin Johnson would become an all-time great for the Phoenix Suns, and one of the most dominant scoring/passing point guards in history. He was part of the core that eventually led the Suns to their championship series against the Bulls in 1993, and remains to this day a Hall of Fame Candidate.

Mark West played for the Suns for six and a half seasons in his first of two stints in Phoenix, and while never a dominating force, was a regular in the Suns lineup never missing a single game.

Tyrone Corbin had one decent season with the Suns, although he was left unprotected in the 1989 Expansion Draft and was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The draft picks received from Cleveland were the greatest wildcard of the entire package, though fortunately the dice rolled in Phoenix’s favor as they were able to draft Dan Majerle with Cleveland’s 1988 first-round pick the following summer.

The core of this trade helped to spawn possibly the greatest era of teams in Phoenix Suns history. Following the 1987-88 season, the Suns went on to win 50+ games for seven consecutive seasons, made three trips to the Western Conference Finals as well as the aforementioned trip to the NBA Finals. That group played a combined 1,995 games for Phoenix and scored a whopping 25,613 points in purple and orange.

It is also fair to say that had it not been for the core built by this singular trade, Charles Barkley too would have never been an option for trade only four seasons later, and the Finals appearance in ’93, may have never happened..