Suns sign former first-round pick Chandler Hutchison

The Suns officially signed free agent wing Chandler Hutchison, the team announced Tuesday in a press release. Hutchison was cut by San Antonio on Saturday and cleared waivers on Monday.

Hutchison, 25, has appeared in a total of 97 NBA games for the Bulls and Wizards since being selected 22nd overall in the 2018 draft. After averaging 20.0 PPG with a .359 3PT% in his final college season at Boise State in 2017-18, he has struggled to score consistently at the NBA level, recording 5.7 PPG on .441/.309/.638 shooting in 18.2 minutes per contest.

Hutchison was traded from Chicago to Washington at this year’s trade deadline, then was flipped to San Antonio in the five-team trade that included Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Spurs also got a 2022 second-round pick in that deal for taking on Hutchison, signaling that he was a salary dump who wasn’t in the team’s plans.

In Phoenix, Hutchison will join a team that had been carrying just 14 players, all on guaranteed standard contracts. The Suns don’t have luxury tax concerns, so they could comfortably carry a 15th man in the regular season. For now, it looks like Hutchison is the front-runner to fill that spot, though we don’t yet know the terms of his new contract.