Traded on Feb. 24, 1994, for Jeff Malone, Jeff Hornacek proved to be the missing piece during Utah's march to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. A good passer, Hornacek's main weapon was a consistent outside shot. While Karl Malone and John Stockton were running the pick and roll to perfection, Hornacek created open space by bombing away from beyond the three-point line. (He also rubbed his cheek at the free-throw line as a way of saying hello to his children.) On Nov. 23 against Seattle, the 6-foot-4 guard buried eight consecutive three-pointers. Later that year, he tied the NBA record of 11 consecutive three-pointers. "Jeff made us a good road team," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

Hornacek also was able to take some of the ball-handling pressure off Stockton. "Always in basketball life, you're looking for that third scorer," Scott Layden said. "When we made the trade for Hornacek, we became a great team. We became quite a tough team to defend." He finished with 15,659 points and 5,281 assists.

Martin Renzhofer