Teams aren’t allowed to start formally negotiating with free agents until July 1, but as usual, that doesn’t mean behind-the-scenes talks haven’t taken place. The Suns are apparently close to re-sign Brandon Knight, whom they traded for at the deadline from the Bucks, to a long-term deal.

According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times:

Knight, whom the Milwaukee Bucks traded to the Phoenix Suns in February in a multiple-team deal, appears on the brink of signing a lucrative long-term contract to remain with the Suns.

I’ve been told by an NBA official that Knight, who’ll become a restricted free agent on July 1, will sign a five-year, $70 million contract with the Suns.

Knight was having a career year in Milwaukee before the trade, which came as something of a surprise. The deal came at the same time as two other Suns trades that sent two of their other point guards to different teams — Goran Dragic to the Heat and Isaiah Thomas to the Celtics. The three-point guard experiment was a disaster, but they’re hoping that Knight and Eric Bledsoe can replicate the success of the Dragic-Bledsoe offense in 2013-14. Plus, Bledsoe and Knight will both be on very moveable contracts for starting-caliber point guards when the cap goes up.

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Source: ProBasketballTalk