NBA Trade Deadline: Top 10 deadline trades of all time
By Daniel Tran
10. Jeff Hornacek finds the perfect fit with Utah
As an NBA player, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you are stuck on a team that does not know how to utilize your abilities, it can be a long season of discomfort and unhappiness. You did not have to tell that to shooting guard Jeff Hornacek while he was on the Philadelphia 76ers.
After a year where he made an All-Star appearance with the Phoenix Suns, Hornacek was the centerpiece of a trade that brought Charles Barkley to the Valley of Sun while sending him to a 76ers team that was glad to be rid of him. Since Philadelphia already had Hersey Hawkins at the shooting guard position, they moved Hornacek to the point guard position.
Though he was averaged 19.1 points and 6.9 assists a game his first year, the 76ers were a horrible team, going 26-56 in 1992-93. The next year, he was shooting a career-low 31.3 percent when they sent him packing at the NBA trade deadline to the Utah Jazz for shooting guard Jeff Malone and a conditional first round draft pick.
Hornacek was a natural in Utah’s signature pick-and-roll offense. His percentages improved immediately after the trade, almost achieving a 50-40-90-percentage line while scoring 14.6 points and adding a second playmaker to aid John Stockton.
Though they never won a championship, Hornacek was an essential third option and hard-nosed defender on two Jazz teams that made it to the NBA Finals and were perennial playoff contenders. All he had to do was stumble into the right fit.
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