5. Kurt Thomas and two future first round picks
Before the Shaquille O’Neal experiment, the Suns traded for Kurt Thomas, an athletic and defensive-minded center that would allow Amar’e Stoudemire and Shawn Marion to slide down to their traditional positions of power forward and small forward.
Considering that the Suns made it to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season that year, it would appear that the trade worked wonders! Except that Stoudemire suffered from a micro fracture needing surgery which basically ended his season before it even began. It’s disappointing to speculate, but had the two been able to play together as intended, the Suns might have had the front court strength to get by the Dallas Mavericks in 2006.
STAT came back to full form in 2006-07, but in the Semifinals against the Spurs, Robert Horry shoved Steve Nash into the press area causing Stoudemire and Boris Diaw to leave the immediate vicinity of the bench which resulted in a suspension for them both for game five at home, which the Suns subsequently lost.
Following the disappointment of that playoff run, again finances and lack of foresight forced the Suns to trade Thomas. What made the trade SO terrible was that they had to package two future first round picks (2008 and 2010) with him just to get the Seattle SuperSonics to accept his salary. Once again, the trading of potential youthful replacements of aging veterans stunted the Suns’ growth in the immediate future.
The player selected with the 2008 draft pick?
The player that was signed with this new-found cap space?
Marcus Banks.