MY ACCOUNT
The Memphis Grizzlies and rookie Kennedy Chandler have agreed to a four-year, $7.1million contract with $4.94m in guarantees, The Athletic reported Tuesday.
Chandler’s deal contains the most guaranteed money ever given to an American-born second-round rookie.
The Grizzlies selected Chandler 38th overall in last month’s NBA Draft, with a pick that originally belonged to the San Antonio Spurs.
A guard out of Tennessee, Chandler averaged 13.9 points and 4.7 assists as a freshman while helping the Volunteers to a SEC Tournament championship and third seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“Kennedy was very high on our board going into the night, someone we felt very strongly about,” Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said.
“[Chandler] easily could have been a first-round pick of ours…absolutely shocked that Kennedy was there given how we felt about him.
“So we were very excited to extend that one beyond the amount of picks we had coming into the night because we felt really strongly about adding Kennedy to this group.”
Kleiman was busy on draft night, orchestrating two other trades. The Grizzlies sent De’Anthony Melton to the Philadelphia 76ers for veteran swingman Danny Green and the No. 23 overall pick, David Roddy.
Memphis also sent picks 22 and 29, Walker Kessler and TyTy Washington, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 19th pick, Jake LaRavia.
