NBA Trade Deadline: Top 10 deadline trades of all time
By Daniel Tran
5. Kevin Johnson gets a chance to shine with the Phoenix Suns
During a player draft in any professional sports, there are two schools of thought when choosing who will join your team: picking the best available player, or picking a player that fills a specific need. The Cleveland Cavaliers went with the former in 1987.
Even though they already had point guard Mark Price who was selected in the second round of 1986 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers decided to grab point guard Kevin Johnson with the seventh overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft. Understandable considering Price made a minimal impact for the team the prior year.
However, Price used Johnson’s arrival as motivation and scored 16.0 points from the point guard position, a just over nine-point improvement, and the Cleveland was stuck with two point guards that could score, but only one that would get any real playing time. Instead of utilizing Johnson’s scoring and play-making from the bench (he was averaging 13.1 points and 6.7 assists during his time in Cleveland), the Cavs decided to trade him for more help in the frontcourt at the NBA trade deadline.
Johnson, along with Tyrone Corbin, and Mark West, would be traded his rookie year to the Phoenix Suns for Larry Nance, Mike Sanders, and a 1991 second-round draft pick. Johnson would develop into an all-star and run with Charles Barkley, Dan Marjerle, and Tom Chambers all the way to the NBA Finals in 1993. Nance, on the other hand, would go on to be a part of this iconic play:
Next: The revolving point guard door