1986–87 Phoenix Suns season

1986–87 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	John MacLeod    (22–36) Dick Van Arsdale (14–12)
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owners	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	36–46 (.439)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR
< 1985–86 1987–88 >

The 1986–87 Phoenix Suns season was the 18th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns started their fourteenth season under head coach John MacLeod. At 22–36 (.379) in late February, management decided to replace the longstanding MacLeod with Dick Van Arsdale,^[1] a former Suns player from the 1975–76 Finals team (coached by MacLeod).

Phoenix went 14–12 (.538) in those last 26 games under Van Arsdale to finish at 36–46 (.439), and missed the 16-team playoffs by one game. All Suns' home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Walter Davis again led the Suns in scoring, averaging 23.6 points for the season. The Suns had another 20-point scorer in Larry Nance, who garnered a career-high 22.5 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds a game. Third-year point guard Jay Humphries averaged 7.7 assists per game to go with 11.3 points per game. For the 32-year-old Davis, it was an All-Star season for him, his 6th in 10 seasons with the Suns, and would be the last time of his career he was honored as an All-Star.

Offseason[]

NBA Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	6	William Bedford	Center	United States	Memphis State
2	31	Joe Ward	Guard	United States	Georgia
2	39	Rafael Addison	Forward	United States	Syracuse
2	46	Jeff Hornacek	Guard	United States	Iowa State
3	55	Kenny Gattison	Forward	United States	Old Dominion
4	77	Grant Gondrezick	Guard	United States	Pepperdine
5	101	Greg Spurling	Center	United States	Carson–Newman
6	123	Jim McCaffrey	Guard	United States	Holy Cross
7	147	Damon Goodwin	Guard	United States	Dayton

Roster[]

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From C 33 Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma F 12 Addison, Rafael 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1964-07-22 Syracuse C 50 Bedford, William  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1963-12-14 Memphis G 6 Davis, Walter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina C 53 Edwards, James  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1955-11-22 Washington F 44 Gattison, Kenny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1964-05-23 Old Dominion G 3 Gondrezick, Grant 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1963-01-19 Pepperdine G 14 Hornacek, Jeff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1963-05-03 Iowa State G 24 Humphries, Jay 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1962-10-17 Colorado F 22 Nance, Larry 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959-02-12 Clemson F 54 Pinckney, Ed 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1963-03-27 Villanova G/F 11 Sanders, Mike 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1960-05-07 UCLA G/F 7 Thompson, Bernard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1962-08-30 Fresno State C 30 Vanos, Nick 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1963-04-13 Santa Clara	Head coach Dick Van Arsdale (Indiana) Assistant coach(es) John Wetzel (Virginia Tech) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season[]

Standings[]

Pacific Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	65	17	.793	–	37–4	28–13	24–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	16	34–7	15–26	17–13
x-Golden State Warriors	42	40	.512	23	25–16	17–24	17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics	39	43	.476	26	25–16	14–27	15–15
Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	29	26–15	10–31	14–16
Los Angeles Clippers	12	70	.146	53	9–32	3–38	3–27

#	Western Conference v t
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	65	17	.793	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	55	27	.671	10
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	16
4	x-Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	21
5	x-Golden State Warriors	42	40	.512	23
6	x-Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	23
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	39	43	.476	26
8	x-Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	28
9	Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	29
10	Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	36
11	San Antonio Spurs	28	54	.341	37
12	Los Angeles Clippers	12	70	.146	53

Record vs. opponents[]

1986-87 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–3	4–2	4–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–0	5–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–0
Boston	3–3	—	6–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–2
Chicago	2–4	0–6	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–3	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–0	0–2	4–2	3–2	4–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3
Cleveland	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	2–0	0–2	1–5	4–2	4–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–4
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	—	4–2	1–1	5–0	3–3	0–2	5–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	3–3	1–1
Denver	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	—	0–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–5	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	5–1	2–3	2–4	1–1
Detroit	3–3	2–3	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	6–0	5–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Golden State	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	1–4	1–1	—	4–1	0–2	6–0	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–5	4–2	4–1	4–1	4–2	2–3	0–2
Houston	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	3–3	1–1	1–4	—	2–0	4–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–3	5–1	5–1	1–4	3–3	1–1
Indiana	3–3	1–5	2–3	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	0–2	0–6	1–4	0–2	—	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–6	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–3	5–0	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	6–0	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	5–1	5–0	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	2–4	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–1	—	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	0–5	2–4	2–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	2–4	—	5–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
New York	1–5	2–4	2–4	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–4	1–5	—	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4
Philadelphia	3–3	3–3	3–3	4–2	0–2	2–0	0–5	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–3	3–3	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–1	5–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–4	2–3	2–3	1–5	4–1	0–2
Portland	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	2–4	3–2	2–0	6–0	1–5	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	4–2	—	3–2	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Sacramento	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–5	4–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–1	4–1	0–5	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–3	—	3–3	2–3	1–5	1–1
San Antonio	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–5	1–1	1–4	1–5	0–2	4–1	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–4	3–3	—	1–4	2–4	0–2
Seattle	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	3–2	0–2	2–4	4–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	4–1	—	3–2	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	3–2	3–3	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	5–1	4–2	2–3	—	1–1
Washington	0–5	2–4	3–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	1–4	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Awards and honors[]

All-Star[]

• Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his sixth and final All-Star selection.
• The other Suns player receiving All-Star votes was Larry Nance (314,193).

Player statistics[]

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season[]

Phoenix Suns statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Alvan Adams	68	40	24.9	.503	.000	.788	5.0	3.3	.9	.5	11.1
Rafael Addison	62	12	11.5	.441	.320	.797	1.7	0.7	.4	.1	5.8
William Bedford	50	18	19.6	.397	.000	.581	4.9	1.1	.4	.7	6.7
Walter Davis	79	79	33.5	.514	.259	.862	3.1	4.6	1.2	.1	23.6
James Edwards	14	9	21.7	.518	.	.771	4.3	1.4	.4	.5	12.0
Kenny Gattison	77	14	14.3	.476	.000	.632	3.5	0.5	.3	.4	5.2
Grant Gondrezick	64	1	13.1	.450	.235	.701	1.7	1.3	.4	.1	5.5
Jeff Hornacek	80	3	19.5	.454	.279	.777	2.3	4.5	.9	.1	5.3
Jay Humphries	82	82	31.5	.477	.185	.769	3.2	7.7	1.4	.1	11.3
Larry Nance	69	67	37.2	.551	.200	.773	8.7	3.4	1.2	2.1	22.5
Ed Pinckney	80	65	28.1	.584	.000	.739	7.3	1.5	1.1	.7	10.5
Mike Sanders	82	4	20.2	.494	.118	.781	3.3	1.5	.7	.3	10.5
Bernard Thompson	24	2	13.8	.400	.000	.818	1.3	0.8	.5	.2	4.6
Nick Vanos	57	14	11.2	.411	.000	.644	3.2	0.8	.3	.4	2.9

Transactions[]

Free agents[]

Additions[]

Date	Player	Contract	Old Team
October 1, 1986	Walter Davis	Re-signed to 3-year contract	Phoenix Suns

Subtractions[]

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
June 8, 1986	Rod Foster	Waived
July 31, 1986	Rick Robey	Free agent
August 13, 1986	Charles Pittman	Free agent	Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)
August 20, 1986	Georgi Glouchkov	Waived	Mobilgirgi Caserta (Italy)
October 23, 1986	Sedric Toney	Waived	New York Knicks
October 28, 1986	Charles Jones	Waived	Portland Trail Blazers

References[]

External links[]

• Standings on Basketball Reference