Michael Finley
The Phoenix Suns were reeling following their second straight playoff upset loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. But thanks to a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1994 in which Cedric Ceballos was shipped off for a first round pick, the Suns were boosted with two first round selections in 1995, the first of which (the Lakers’ pick) was used to select small forward Michael Finley from Wisconsin at 21st overall.
Showing tremendous upside immediately, Finley became the team’s starting small forward in only his 9th game of the season, following a dominating 27 point, 9 rebound, and 4 assist performance in his prior outing off the bench.
Scoring 20 or more points in 15 games that year, Finley was as regular a fixture in the team’s rotation as anyone playing 40+ minutes in 46 games.
Michael Finley impressed the league enough to deserve the All-Rookie First Team honors, although he finished tied for 4th in RoY voting with Jerry Stackhouse with 2 points. Kevin Garnett finished 6th with 1 point.
Finley’s rookie season ended abruptly and unfortunately. In the regular season’s final moments, he came down awkwardly and severely sprained his left ankle. The sprain would sideline him for the playoffs, where Phoenix would ultimately get knocked out by the San Antonio Spurs in four games.
On December 26 the following season, after enduring an 0-13 start to the year, Finley was part of a package of players who was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Jason Kidd. Finley would play the next 13 seasons in Texas, playing for both Dallas and San Antonio.