The Phoenix Suns have been a huge disappointment this season, and because of that they are in a much different position with the trade deadline approaching than they thought they would be. The Suns hoped they would be in the market as buyers to make a playoff push, but instead they will likely be sellers. Phoenix has made many of its players available at the trade deadline, especially older guys including Tyson Chandler, in an effort to get younger. Despite his availability, Chandler is not drawing much interest, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical.
The Suns signed Chandler to a four-year, $52 million deal last offseason in the hopes that he would help lead the team to at least the playoffs. The Suns also had thoughts that bringing in Chandler would lure LaMarcus Aldridge, and it almost did. However, Chandler, has not played well in his first season with the Suns, so it shouldn't come as too big of a surprise that they have put him on the block.
The Suns are at the point where they clearly need to go in a different direction, so they want to trade Chandler to make room for 22-year-old Alex Len to be the full-time starter. The issue is that Chandler is drawing almost no interest on the trade market because he is now 33, has very diminished skills and also has three years and $39 million left on his contract. That money doesn't seem like a lot with the cap rising next season, but teams are still reportedly shying away from it. This contract also will take Chandler through age 37, so if he has shown this much regression already one can only imagine what kind of player he will be in three more years.
Another factor in Chandler's low trade value is the fact that this summer's free agent center class is expected to be loaded. The class will probably include the likes of Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Hassan Whiteside and Joakim Noah, according to Hoopshype. Teams with a need at center will likely decide to wait until the offseason to address it instead of taking on Chandler and being saddled with his contract.
On the season, Chandler is averaging just 5.5. points, 8.3 rebounds and a career-low 0.6 blocks through 42 games. Chandler isn't the only reason the Suns have been a disappointment this season, but he has been a huge part of it. The unforunate thing for the Suns is they may be stuck with that contract for the duration.
