Tyson Chandler doesn’t want to rebuild with Phoenix Suns
By John Buhler
Tyson Chandler did sign a four-year contract worth $52 million with the Phoenix Suns last summer, but the veteran center wants no part of their rebuild.
Whether or not 15-year NBA veteran Tyson Chandler knew what he signed up for when he agreed to a four-year deal worth $52 million with the lowly Phoenix Suns last summer, it seems that Chandler doesn’t want to play a role in the Suns’ rebuild for the foreseeable future.
Chandler said the following after the Suns’ 95-90 victory over their Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, “For me, especially where I am in my career, I want to win. I want to win now. I’m not in any kind of rebuilding stage. So if that’s the case, it ain’t where I’m supposed to be.”
Well, that may prove too difficult for Chandler to up and leave the abysmal Suns anytime soon. Phoenix is one of the four worst teams in the NBA, Chandler’s salary isn’t exactly movable, and he’s not the player he once was now at 35 years of age.
He had to have known that Phoenix was bound to bottom out at some point. Injuries to point guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight and former head coach Jeff Hornacek’s abrupt firing ushered in a harsh reality of Suns basketball. Even though center Alex Len and guard Devin Booker have looked promising in 2015-16, this season has been nothing short of a disastrous one in Phoenix.
While Chandler probably wants another shot at winning another ring, he’s likely not going to be able to do that in Phoenix on a team bound to lose over 50 games the next few years. He probably received that massive payday last summer to be a veteran leader on this otherwise young and struggling club. Chandler can complain all he wants, but this is what he signed up for when agreeing to spend four years with the Suns last summer, right before their bubble burst into an inevitable rebuild.