Brandon Knight is going to be a Phoenix Sun for the foreseeable future, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Phoenix has agreed to a five-year, $70 million extension with guard Brandon Knight, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2015
Rumors of the deal first sprouted up two days ago, but teams and players weren’t allowed to officially agree and announce deals until July 1. This is a great deal for the Suns, both in terms of the player they were able to retain and the rate at which they were able to retain him. Knight was arguably deserving of an All-Star nod last season with the Bucks, so getting that caliber of a player at $14 million a year is a good price.
This is not a sign that the Suns are committed only to Knight and no longer to Bledsoe. Just the opposite, the Suns are committed to their two point guard system.
Told strongly that Suns will not be trading Eric Bledsoe in wake of Brandon Knight deal. FWIW.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 1, 2015
There were rumors of the Suns shopping Bledsoe, especially around the draft, but general manager Ryan McDonough quickly squashed those reports. Might the team’s acquisition of Tyson Chandler and pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge change that? If the league’s biggest free agency fish wants to play in the desert, Phoenix would have to shed a significant amount of salary, and a sign-and-trade with the Portland Trail Blazers for Bledsoe would help accomplish that goal.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Knight, at least, will be a fixture of the Suns’ backcourt for years to come.
