Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ eight top-5 picks all-time

Armen Gilliam – Drafted 2nd Overall in 1987

Finding a franchise center has been a perpetual search for the Phoenix Suns franchise since it’s inception, and the selection of Armen Gilliam was a direct reaction to Phoenix again just barely missing out on the opportunity to draft one.

A dominant power forward at UNLV, Gilliam was seen as a more than capable consolation prize for missing out on the first overall pick, and the right to draft center David Robinson out of Navy.

Gilliam’s first two seasons were not all that bad statistically. However, the problem he had was heart.

Gilliam was not a hard worker. He didn’t have the heart to play to his potential and he didn’t have the mindset to find a way to bring it all together. And because of this he was also wildly inconsistent. This all came to a head as the team was re-built and re-vitalized in 1988-89 and his poor work ethic both on and off the court led to him becoming a cancer in the locker room – and a scapegoat from the press for poor stretches by the team as a whole.

To add insult to injury, Phoenix left Tyrone Corbin available in the 1989 expansion draft and he was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Suns management later openly admitted that they should have left Gilliam available, and kept Corbin.

Fans and the media were already critical of him after his rookie season, and some speculated that he should have been traded then. However, the team preached patience, and while his trade value slipped as his play on and off the floor suffered, his name remained on the lineup sheet before every game.

Finally in the summer of 1989 the team was desperate to move on, and after months of attempts, they were unable to. A trade eventually materialized with the Charlotte Hornets in December, but the Suns were forced to take pennies on the dollar. Although they received highly respected veteran Kurt Rambis in return, a 4-time Champion whose determination, gritty defense, and work ethic was only over-shadowed by the glasses he wore on court, he was six years – and multiple ankle surgeries – older than the former number two overall pick.