The Exchange
Phoenix drafted St. John's forward-center Jayson Williams with the No. 21 pick in the 1990 draft, but the relationship stalled before his rookie season. Contemporary Associated Press reporting said Williams preferred an East Coast team, had considered Europe and was offered only a one-year minimum contract by Phoenix after missing the club's rookie camp. On October 28, Phoenix moved his draft rights to Philadelphia for a future first-round pick. Basketball-Reference records that pick as the 1994 first that later became No. 6 Sharone Wright, while the draft-trade ledger describes the obligation as lottery-protected in 1993 before it rolled into 1994.
Philadelphia Return
Williams did become an NBA player immediately, so this was not an empty rights acquisition. He played 52 games with one start as a rookie, averaging 3.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.8 minutes. In 1991-92 he played another 50 games with eight starts, averaging 4.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. Across two Philadelphia seasons that is 102 games and nine starts: real depth value, but not first-round-caliber production. Philadelphia also preserved some downstream value. On October 8, 1992 the 76ers traded Williams to New Jersey for two future second-round choices, later listed as the 1994 No. 41 pick and the 1997 No. 35 pick. That conversion keeps the Philadelphia return above a failing grade, even though Williams' later All-Star career with the Nets cannot be credited back to the 76ers.
Phoenix Return
The Suns received the more valuable asset: a future first that eventually landed sixth overall. Phoenix did not wait for the pick to convey. On December 7, 1990, only forty days after the Williams trade, the Suns sent Eddie Johnson, their 1991 first-round pick and this acquired future first to Seattle for Xavier McDaniel. The 1994 first therefore had immediate trade-market value inside a major veteran acquisition. The pick later moved through additional transactions and eventually became Sharone Wright, but Wright's career belongs to the team that ultimately exercised the selection, not to Phoenix. The source-backed credit here is the premium first-round asset Phoenix obtained and then successfully used as trade capital.
Hindsight Comparison
Philadelphia got two useful reserve seasons, then recovered two second-round assets. That is a legitimate return and explains why the deal is not a disaster. The problem is the price. A future first that ultimately landed at No. 6 was substantially more valuable than Williams' direct 76ers contribution, and Phoenix demonstrated that value almost immediately by using the pick in the McDaniel package. The legacy slight Philadelphia edge had the direction backwards because it focused on Williams becoming an NBA player without weighing the eventual position and transaction utility of the outgoing first.
Final Verdict
Phoenix Suns Win, A- to C+. Phoenix turned the rights to an unsigned No. 21 pick into a premium future first and quickly used that asset in a major trade. Philadelphia received 102 games of reserve value and later two second-round picks, enough to avoid a harsh grade, but not enough to match the first-round asset it surrendered.