In 1992, the Phoenix Suns shook up the NBA world and traded for Charles Barkley. Could the 2018 Suns do the same and trade for Kawhi Leonard?
Following their Semifinals game 6 loss to the Portland Trailblazers in 1992, Suns Assistant Coach Lionel Hollins said while walking off the court, “we need a Charles Barkley.” 34 days later (coincidence?) Barkley was traded to Phoenix for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry.
In 2018 the Suns might have the ability to go get “a Charles Barkley” and trade for Kawhi Leonard, one of the league’s absolute best players, not not all with the same brash personality, but certainly the skills of a top-ten player and ability to lead a team to a championship.
The idea of how the Suns could trade for Kawhi in a similar trade to Barkley was broached to me some time ago and I’d like to answer that question here. To do so, I would like to draw a similarity between the real and potential trades by specifically looking at who was needed to acquire Barkley and if a similar package can be constructed to acquire Leonard.
All three players the Suns traded in 1992 were starters the season prior. While we know what eventually happened with Hornacek (he was traded after only a season-and-a-half), Lang, and Perry (neither of them had very successful careers at all and fizzled away fairly quickly), trading three starters for only one was a hard pill to swallow and (believe-it-or-not) for many Suns fans seemed to be way too much for Barkley.
Hornacek was a veteran of six seasons, a 20-point scorer in 1991-92 for the first time in his career, and a ’92 All-Star, his first (and ultimately only) All-Star selection. Regardless that it would end up being his only appearance, having just happened four months prior to the trade, he was in the prime of his career and his combined scoring and passing abilities, he was a star point guard/shooting guard who could come to Philadelphia and not ruffle feathers like Barkley was and just play the game. Without argument, Hornacek was the centerpiece of the deal from the Sixers’ perspective.
Andrew Lang was a solid defensive center with a better offensive game and greater athleticism than any other center on the Sixers’ roster at the time – which included Manute Bol and Charles Shackleford. Only in the league for four seasons at that point, Lang also brought youth and was expected to be a part of the long-term rebuilding project of the team in the post-Barkley era.
Tim Perry was an incredibly athletic power forward (comparable to today’s Derrick Jones Jr.) and as Tom Chambers wound down his career, he seemed to be stepping into that role as the go-to power forward. Tripling both his scoring and rebounding averages in ’91-92 from the season prior, topping 12 points and nearly grabbing 7 rebounds a game, he appeared well on his way. Also only in the league for four seasons at the time of the trade, Perry completed the group of starters who could step into starters roles immediately in Philadelphia, which they each did.
Sixers’ management believed that by acquiring that group they were actually getting better. Having won 35 games in ’91-92, Sixer’s Owner Harold Katz publicly spoke that he expected to win more games in ’92-93 than the team had in ’91-92. (Not only was he wrong winning only 26 games, it would take eight seasons before Philadelphia would even win 35+ games again.)
Looking back on that trade, from the Suns’ perspective, they really didn’t give up very much to consummate the deal. Of course they replaced Perry with Barkley, Hornacek with Dan Majerle and Danny Ainge, and Lang with Mark West, but in the end, the deal ended up being a steal because Lang and Perry never panned out, and Barkley would lead the franchise to a Finals appearance against the Chicago Bulls.
Phoenix Suns
That being said, they gave up three starters, two of whom were young, defensive anchors on the roster, and one an All-Star.
How the Suns could pull off anything truly similar is impossible since no Suns players made the All-Star game last year, and the one player who was technically close in any way, Devin Booker, would be just as untouchable as Kevin Johnson was back in 1992 – the Sixers most most interested in acquiring KJ, although the Suns had no interest in trading their point guard and killed all deals that centered around him.
It does need to be noted though that at least initially it had been rumored that the Suns had actually offered KJ, who was 26 at the time, in a one-for-one deal for Barkley, who was 29. While the Suns publicly denied this, the Sixers said that they preferred a package of players in return and accepted the offer that history remembers.
Knowledge of that possibly nixed deal is important as in the acquisition of Leonard, we can say without hesitation that the Spurs would request Josh Jackson in the return package. If the Spurs would accept a one-for-one, I think that would be more than okay for the Suns. Obviously San Antonio would try and milk the Suns for all they’ve got and demand more, but from Phoenix’s perspective, the second half of Jackson’s rookie season should be more than enough to believe that his future is bright – very bright – and that losing out on the six years in age between Jackson and Leonard would be a hard reality to swallow.
Yet subtracting Jackson and adding Leonard would be a really big deal and an immediate upgrade to the roster, pairing a bonafied superstar with a fledgling one in Devin Booker, without giving up any depth otherwise.
However, much like Philadelphia in 1992, there is a chance that the Spurs of 2018 would be more wiling, if not eager, to accept a trade package versus replacement of one player with one. The Spurs are not getting younger with six of their best players all 30 or older, and adding multiple young players to the roster versus just one might be more palatable.
If so, I actually think that makes this trade very predictable.
T.J. Warren is the Jeff Hornacek of the current Phoenix Suns. A good scorer, Warren is a second fiddle player to Devin Booker and presumably soon Josh Jackson, (maybe even slotting in behind the newest draftee that Phoenix acquires in the lottery as well) and while not an All-Star now, he could absolutely be one in the future based on his scoring and rebounding alone. Warren could easily replace the elder Rudy Gay on the Spurs’ roster, and at 25 would be closer in age to Leonard than Jackson, therefore making it slightly more similar to the Barkley/Hornacek swap.
While not the centerpiece defenders that Lang and Perry were, both Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss are good defenders, and at their ages (both are still only 20) they would have a lot of the same potential upside that the Lang/Perry duo appeared to have back in ’92. The plus side to acquiring those two for the Spurs is that they are both better offensive players than Lang and Perry were and might have similar upside on the offensive side of the ball that they might have on the defensive side.
Many Suns fans already consider them both to be busts too already, with many fans offering those two in theoretical trades at one point or another. There is a chance that they are both busts (or at least never reach any dramatic NBA heights) making their being included in a trade for Leonard acceptable in fan’s eyes.
If the 2018 Suns could somehow pull of a trade for Kawhi Leonard and not give up Josh Jackson, it would be as seemingly miraculous as the Suns pulling off a trade for Charles Barkley without including Kevin Johnson.
If the trade could come to fruition with Jackson remaining on the Suns’ roster, right now the lineup would look something like this (obviously prior to the draft, free agency, and trades):
PG: Brandon Knight, Tyler Ulis
SG: Devin Booker, Troy Daniels
SF: Josh Jackson, Kawhi Leonard
PF: Kawhi Leonard, Jared Dudley
C: Tyson Chandler, Alan Williams
Not a bad top-ten at all, and certainly a group that would improve immediately depending upon who the Suns would acquire in the draft. Imagine replacing Tyson Chandler with DeAndre Ayton or Brandon Knight and/or Tyler Ulis with Luka Doncic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? (I could certainly see Grayson Allen backing up Troy Daniels as well.)
Certainly consider who else the Suns could potentially acquire in free agency and/or trade, adding additional veteran talent around Booker, Jackson, Leonard, and their draft pick(s)?
If Kawhi Leonard does end up forcing himself out of San Antonio, who knows what the Spurs will demand as compensation. Initially they will ask for the Suns’ top pick as well as Jackson, a demand that I believe the Suns would scoff at – although possibly offering one or the other in a one-for-one deal.
However, for the purposes of this post it is interesting to see how to pull off a trade similar to the Charles Barkley trade of 1992, a package that I think is not only very much palatable for Suns fans, but in all sincerity: possibly the best trade offer Sand Antonio will receive for a player who is in the position that Kawhi Leonard appears to be in.