The Exchange
Phoenix and Portland transaction logs agree on the June 14, 1985 deal: the Suns sent a 1987 second-round choice to the Trail Blazers for Bernard Thompson. Thompson had been Portland's 1984 first-round pick at No. 19 and had just completed a 59-game rookie season. Two years later Portland used the acquired second-rounder at No. 30 overall on LSU forward Nikita Wilson. Because both assets produced NBA results, this is a straightforward realized-value comparison rather than a rights or conditional-pick problem.
Phoenix Return
Thompson immediately became a useful Suns reserve. In 1985-86 he played 61 games with 20 starts, averaged 8.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and shot 48.9 percent from the field. His role declined in 1986-87, when he appeared in 24 games with two starts, but he returned for 37 games and seven starts in 1987-88. Across those three Phoenix seasons he totaled 122 regular-season games, 29 starts, 819 points, 248 rebounds, 201 assists and 83 steals. That is not star production, but it is a meaningful amount of real rotation value for the cost of one future second-round pick. Thompson later played briefly for Houston, so Phoenix received essentially the prime NBA portion of his career after the trade.
Portland Return
The Trail Blazers waited two years for the pick and selected Nikita Wilson at No. 30 in the 1987 draft. Wilson made the 1987-88 roster but appeared in only 15 games, never started, and logged 54 total minutes. He scored 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded three assists before his NBA career ended after that one season. Portland therefore converted a recent first-round wing who still had three NBA seasons ahead of him into a second-round selection that produced only 15 low-minute games. The process was defensible—Thompson had been a low-efficiency rookie and a future second was a normal asset for a player outside the core—but the realized outcome was poor.
Final Verdict
Phoenix wins clearly while the stakes remain modest. Thompson was never a foundational Suns player, so an elite grade would overstate the deal. He did, however, give Phoenix 122 games, nearly thirty starts and one genuinely useful 61-game season. Portland's return became a player who barely reached the floor and was out of the NBA after 15 games. A B for Phoenix reflects strong value extraction from a second-round cost. A D+ for Portland recognizes that the Blazers received a legitimate draft asset and made an ordinary second-round bet, but that bet produced almost no NBA value. Final verdict: Phoenix Suns Win.