With one year and $13.5 million remaining on his contract, Tyson Chandler was an ideal candidate to be bought out by the lottery-bound Phoenix Suns at some point this season.
As veterans are usually bought out closer to the March 1 deadline in order to be eligible for the playoffs, it was an extremely surprising move just seven games into the 2018-19 NBA season.
However, the Los Angeles Lakers are certainly not complaining as LeBron James reportedly ‘called in a favor’ to former teammate and Suns interim general manager James Jones to initiate the buyout process.