After striking out on LaMarcus Aldridge, the Phoenix Suns have moved forward and are looking to complete their roster with complimentary pieces. On Wednesday, they added Sonny Weems and Ronnie Price to their young roster. Earlier in free agency, they agreed to sign Tyson Chandler and introduced him to the team on Thursday morning.
Now they have agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal with Mirza Teletovic, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com. The Brooklyn Nets most recently declined Teletovic's qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent, and the 29-year old has already found a new home.
The Suns forfeited some of their depth to clear cap space for Aldridge. They shipped Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock, and Danny Granger to the Detroit Pistons for basically nothing in return.
But since Aldridge chose to sign with the San Antonio Spurs, the Suns have been left with roster space and some extra cash. Signing Teletovic is a rather nice move for them. Teletovic’s style of play resembles Marcus Morris’. Just like Morris, he stretches the floor and could play either the four or the three.
Teletovic, however, lives mostly behind the three-point arc, as more than half of his field goal attempts throughout his career have come from deep range. He is a streaky three-point shooter, and once he gets going, he could become a threat.
Last season was exceptionally unfortunate for Teletovic, who played just 40 games before being diagnosed with blood clots in his lung. He was, although, able to make a surprising return during the playoffs for the Nets but played just five minutes a game and was unable to produce.
As a member of the Suns, he figures to play behind Markieff Morris at the four position. Phoenix could also use him at the three from time to time.
In his three-year career, all with the Nets, Teletovic has averaged 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 36.2 percent from three-point distance.