Former Cat Knight inks deal for $70 million over five years

After 14 seasons in the National Basteball Association, Tyson Chandler has been handed a four-year deal worth a reported $52 million – but it wasn’t by Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks.

When the LaMarcus Aldridge sweepstakes began, the Phoenix Suns weren’t really on the radar.

Eric Bledsoe will reportedly not be traded to make room for LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency.

The Phoenix Suns have apparently locked up guard Brandon Knight for the long term, with Yahoo!

With this trade, Phoenix opens up $20 million in cap space, according to Wojnarowski. Detroit sent a 2020 second-round pick to the Suns in exchange for Marcus Morris, Danny Granger and Reggie Bullock, and agreed to a three-year deal with center Aron Baynes.

Chandler is expected to give the Suns a veteran presence inside and help tutor young center Alex Len. The contracts with Chandler and Knight can’t be officially signed until July 9, when a leaguewide moratorium on roster business is lifted. For example, the Clippers wanted to sign-and-trade for him if DeAndre Jordan chose Dallas.

Knight was limited to 11 games due to a left ankle injury after the three-team deal that brought him to the desert, but the Suns liked what they saw from the ex- Kentucky standout. Playing next to a much more capable defender in Markieff Morris next year, I fully expect Chandler to return to elite levels of rim protection for the Suns, which would be huge for a team lacking defensive identity and interior toughness. His career scoring average is 16.8, but he hasn’t approached that number since 2011-12 with the Indiana Pacers.

The deal for Chandler is for four years and over $50 million and he could carve a nice spot for himself in Phoenix even if the team doesn’t get Aldridge or Roy Hibbert.

Last season, Granger started six games with the Heat, averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds, and shooting 36 percent from 3-point range.