The last time Phoenix held at least one pick in the 1-10, 11-20 and 20-30 ranges in the same draft, the trio of selections netted them one Ring of Honor member right away and another just four years later.
Dan Majerle was taken 14th overall in the 1988 NBA Draft, but it was not a selection met with widespread approval. Suns fans who had gathered for the team’s draft party in downtown Phoenix greeted the pick with hearty boos.
Less than a year later, the same supporters erupted in cheers when "Thunder Dan" punctuated his arrival with a merciless dunk over 7-foot-6 center Manute Bol in the 1989 playoffs. In the coming years, he became an All-Star, a fan favorite, a USA Basketball gold medal winner and a Ring of Honor member.
Majerle was second of the Suns’ draft picks in that fateful summer. The first (Tim Perry, seventh overall) and third (Andrew Lang, 28th) needed more time to develop. It wasn’t until the 1991-92 season that each carved out a significant role in the Suns’ rotation. Perry averaged 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 52.3-percent from the field that season. Lang, a big man with uncanny timing on defense, ranked 10th in the league in blocked shots that year.
Their growth peaked at the same time as Charles Barkley’s frustration with the Philadelphia 76ers. The superstar forward was done with losing, and the Suns were an appealing destination after four consecutive 50-win seasons and two Western Conference Finals appearances.
Dan Majerle's Draft Experience & Career
The Sixers were desperate to get value in exchange for Barkley, and thought that Perry and Lang – still-young talents who could grow further – were ideal pieces to a package centered around newly-minted All-Star guard Jeff Hornacek.
Hindsight makes the deal look like a no-brainer, but it is no small matter to trade an All-Star/fan favorite, a top-10 pick and a top-10 shot-blocker for a superstar with a very public history of dissatisfaction. To the Suns’ credit, they made the deal anyway, and the reward was a season that took the desert by storm. Barkley won the MVP, Phoenix won a franchise-best 62 games and the Suns made just their second trip to the NBA Finals.
That storybook season does not happen without the fateful draft five years beforehand. The selections of Perry, Majerle and Lang occurred immediately after a disappointing season in which Phoenix went 28-54.
Now, the Suns find themselves in a similar position: yearning to win again and flush with draft picks. They hold the fourth, 13th, 28th and 34th picks in Thursday’s draft -- ammunition for building toward a better future. Just as they were in 1988, those picks can be used in different ways to ultimately build a true contender.
How all of that unfolds won’t be known the moment the draft is over. Rookies need to grow. Trade opportunities need to materialize. Teams need to gel.
What is important is that Phoenix is in a position for those things to happen. Whatever they gain and however they gain it through this potentially franchise-changing draft will be added to a mix that includes an All-Rookie First Teamer (Devin Booker), two double-double machines (Alex Len and Tyson Chandler) and two guards who can enforce their respective wills on a game (Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight).
That’s not a bad place to start.