The 1987–88 Phoenix Suns season was the 19th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The team was led by new head coach John Wetzel. Having missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, Suns management made a midseason trade with Cleveland in attempt to return the Suns to postseason play. The trade would in part send All-Star Larry Nance in exchange for rookie Kevin Johnson. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Despite Nance's quality play (he was leading the Suns in scoring with 21 points and 10 rebounds per game), Suns director of personnel, Cotton Fitzsimmons, stated the reason for the trade. "It's obvious we are not happy with our current record and we are not happy with our record over the last few seasons. We talked to a lot of teams about Nance. We felt it (the trade with Cleveland) was the best deal for us in regard to the youth of the players and draft choices involved." On February 25, the 29-year-old Nance, along with Mike Sanders and a 1988 draft first round pick, were sent to Cleveland in exchange for Johnson, Tyrone Corbin, Mark West, 1988 draft first and second round picks, and a 1989 second round pick. (The 1988 draft first rounder would turn out to be Dan Majerle.) On the day of the trade, the Suns beat Cleveland (none of the players involved in the trade recorded any minutes). The Suns would, however, lose their next nine games in a row.

The Suns finished the 1986–87 season with the seventh worst record in the league, but managed to secure the second pick in the 1987 draft through the Draft Lottery. They lost the first pick to the San Antonio Spurs, who selected future Hall of Fame center David Robinson. With the second pick the Suns selected forward/center Armon Gilliam from UNLV. Gilliam averaged 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in three years with the Runnin' Rebels. In his senior year, he led the team to a 37–2 record while averaging 23.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. On October 8, the Suns signed Gilliam to an undisclosed contract, which general manager Jerry Colangelo stated was "for a long period of time", and was "the largest contract ever signed by a rookie with the Phoenix Suns." Gilliam would play part of three seasons with the Suns, averaging 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds in 145 games, before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in December 1989.

...
Wikipedia