Rockets Trade Ryan Anderson And De’Anthony Melton To Suns For Marquese Chriss And Brandon Knight

ESPN The Houston Rockets traded forward Ryan Anderson and guard De’Anthony Melton to the Phoenix Suns for forward Marquese Chriss and guard Brandon Knight, league sources told ESPN. The Rockets have been working to move Anderson, 30, for over a year. He has two years and $41 million left on his contract. Chriss was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft but hasn’t come close to fulfilling his potential. Knight has two years and $30 million left on his contract and missed last season because of a torn ACL. The Suns traded for Anderson with an expectation that he could start at power forward. With the loss of Knight, the Suns plan to continue pursuing a trade for a starting-level point guard before the start of the regular season.

All offseason long, the Houston Rockets have been trying to find a trade partner for Ryan Anderson and his absolutely ridiculous contract, but I was told during trade talks with the Atlanta Hawks that the Rockets would absolutely not include rookie guard De’Anthony Melton in any trade. I was told the Rockets love Melton, an incredible athlete and excellent defender, who unexpectedly fell into their laps in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft. So I was surprised when the Rockets did exactly that, when they dumped Ryan Anderson’s contract on the Phoenix Suns and attached Melton, and got back forward Marquese Chriss and veteran guard Brandon Knight. Marquese Chriss is super talented, he was the eighth overall pick of the 2016 overall draft, however he has had major problems with professional athlete basics on a young Phoenix team, such as playing hard and staying in shape. A change of scenery for Chriss, which puts him around veterans like Chris Paul and James Harden might be very beneficial, and could help Chriss finally reach his potential. Brandon Knight missed all of the 2017 - 2018 season with a knee injury, but if he can return to form, he gives the Rockets a valuable reserve guard who fits their system perfectly. For the Suns, the fact that this article says Anderson could start at power forward is an absolute joke, he could not be more washed and is just trying to collect that final $41 million that the Rockets stupidly gave him when they signed him to the worst contract in the NBA. The Suns got rid of a disappointing player who was bad for culture and a veteran player who was not part of the future plan, they absorb Anderson’s dead body and dead money, and get back a promising young guard that a lot of people in the league are high on for their troubles.