9. Charles Barkley to Houston
Charles Barkley spent four extremely productive and successful seasons with the Suns from 1992 to 1996. Seemingly on the verge of retirement after every season due to back injuries, he saw three great chances at his coveted Championship slip through his fingers. By the start of the 1995-96 season he had become upset at the franchise for not finding another low-post presence to help take some pressure off of him. Finally, only week she before the start of the season, the Suns made a move.
The Suns traded Dan Majerle, Antonio Lang, and a future first round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for center John ‘Hot Rod’ Williams.
When that season ended and the Suns were the farthest they had been yet from a Championship since Barkley’s arrival to the Valley of the Suns, he realized that his title hopes in Phoenix had been all but lost.
Granted Barkley limited the Suns’ options in who he was willing to be traded to (mentioning specific Championship contenders), but the return on trading a bonafide – and still very good – superstar, should still have led to much in return.
The reason the Barkley to Houston trade ended up being so bad for Phoenix wasn’t because they didn’t get equal value – that almost never happens. The problem was that of the core of players they received in return, one nearly forced the implosion of the team, and three of the four saw almost no court time with the Suns:
Chucky Brown – Chucky was nothing more than a throw in and performed as such playing only 10 games before becoming the first of three of the original trade package to be traded before midseason. He was shipped off in early December to Milwaukee for Darrin Hancock and a second round pick. Hancock never played and the pick was conditional and never exercised.
Sam Cassell – He was very disappointed to be traded from Houston and was not fond of playing in Phoenix. Though he was a talented point guard who appeared that he could be the air apparent to Kevin Johnson, he was ultimately never happy. After 22 games he was traded back to Texas, but this time to Dallas for Jason Kidd. The fact that he was used in a trade for Kidd could be reason to make the Barkley’s trade worth while after all. However, given the Suns roster situation, even if they had not received Cassell for Barkley, it is likely that they would have still been able to still make a trade with Dallas. It is the simple fact that the Suns actually did acquire Kidd with Cassell in the package that keeps this particular trade from being a lot higher on the list.
Robert Horry – Horry famously threw a towel in Head Coach Danny Ainge’s face two months into his first season in Phoenix and by early January was traded to the Lakers. A player who should have been a core piece for many years was now gone after only 32 games – and helped to end another Suns Championship run nearly a decade later.
Mark Bryant – At 31, he the oldest of the group and at first blush it didn’t seem likely that he would end up lasting longer than the other three. And yet, throughout all the turmoil surrounding Horry and Cassell, he managed to hang with the team and provide a calm veteran presence off the bench (and start when needed) while being the kind of low-post bruiser that Charles Barkley had wanted the Suns to obtain prior to his being traded to Houston. Bryant lasted only two seasons, but played in 111 games, nearly double the number of appearances that Horry, Cassell, and Brown combined.
Bryant was eventually part of the trade the brought to Phoenix Luc Longley.