The Phoenix Suns have been disheartened by what they have seen out of Marquese Chriss in his two years with the team, despite seeing him as a blooming prospect when they traded for him in 2015, selecting him with the eighth overall pick in the draft.

According to HoopsHabit's Gerald Bourguet, the Suns “were less than enthused” about Chriss' progress and mentality, which paved the way for them trading him along with the injury-prone Brandon Knight in return for the overloaded contract of Ryan Anderson and rookie De'Anthony Melton.

The Suns had more than their fair share of run-ins with Marquese Chriss, suspending him for a verbal altercation with one of their assistant coaches, as well as slowly dimming his minutes on the floor, despite dedicating the entire 2017-18 season to playing young talent.

Chriss' often mouthy character and reported poor work ethic just weren't a match for the direction in which the Suns were trying to build. New coach Igor Koskokov was unlikely to give him minutes, as he is being tasked with building a positive culture, making his constant attitude problems tough to forgive.

Phoenix seems much involved in trying to help Dragan Bender reach his ceiling, already showing signs of being a modern 3-point shooting big man.

Letting go of Knight wasn't a big issue for the Suns, but they will sooner or later need an answer at point guard after allowing Elfrid Payton to walk free over the offseason and disposing of Tyler Ulis before they offered phenom Devin Booker a five-year, $158 million max extension.