Report: Suns trade Chriss, Knight to Rockets for a pair
The Suns are shipping point guard Brandon Knight and forward Marquese Chriss to the Houston Rockets for forward Ryan Anderson and guard De’Anthony Melton, according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Chriss, the eighth overall pick in the 2016 draft, averaged just 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds over his two seasons in Phoenix. Chriss had a roller-coaster season with the Suns last year, as questions were raised about his health and mindset.
Knight, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract in July 2015, missed all of last season after surgery to repair a torn ACL. He spoke recently about being excited to run new Suns coach Igor Kokoskov’s offensive system.
In his 10 years in the league, Anderson has averaged 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds a game. The 6-foot-10, 240pound shooter entered the league in 2008 with the then-New Jersey Nets, but has since played for the Orlando Magic, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Rockets.
Last season, Anderson averaged 9.3 points while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range in Houston. Anderson is under contract through the 201920 season.
Melton (6-4, 190) was drafted by the Rockets in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft with the 46th pick. He played one season at USC, where he averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 36 games for the Trojans.
Last year, Melton was forced to sit out his sophomore season at USC because of his connection to an FBI investigation into bribery in college basketball.
Melton was declared ineligible by USC and ultimately withdrew from the university in February.