4. Luc Longley
The cause of this trade was Jerry Colangelo’s perpetually futile attempt to find a leading big man to help battle the other dominant centers in the league. Since 1969 when the Suns lost the coin flip for the opportunity to draft Lew Alcindor, Colangelo worked every opportunity possible to try and acquire a player with the size and skill to dominate down low.
Luc Longley was the next in a long line of attempts to acquire a big name center (or at least a decent one) that could help the Suns defend against those other teams in the West with strong centers. At the time Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and others were patrolling the paint and for a Suns team that was predicated on its guard play, Phoenix was unable to matchup defensively against them in any way.
The problem was, Longley just wasn’t that good. And to make matters worse, he had a laid-back personality that earned him a reputation of being lazy.
Playing for the second three-peat Chicago Bulls teams, Longley appeared to be a good center. The fact that the Bulls won titles with him (though not because of him) Colangelo probably thought he had struck gold when acquiring the Aussie. Not only did he have Championship pedigree, but after the second retirement of Michael Jordan, the Bulls sold the farm in an attempt to rebuild, and Longley, who might not have been available otherwise, was now ripe for the picking.
The Suns honestly didn’t give up a whole lot to acquire him, all things considered, although three players and a first round pick for a single player isn’t a package to just blow off as nothing.
What made Longley such a bust was that he came with expectations, and all he did was let the franchise down while alienating many in the fanbase in the process.
For only two seasons (the first being lockout shortened 98-99) Longley averaged 7.10/4.9r/1.1a/.6b. In 12 playoff games, his stat line was even more abysmal, averaging 3.5p/3.3r/.8a/.3b.
In the summer of 2000 the Suns gave up on the Longley experience and shipped him off to the New York knicks in what was, at the time, the largest trade in the history of the NBA. Longley played 25 games in New York before injuries took their toll and by the summer of 2001 an arthritic left ankle ended his career.