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As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday morning, Chasson Randle will be joining the Phoenix Suns leading into the 2021-22 NBA season.
While it’s highly unlikely he’ll play a meaningful role on a team hoping to return to the NBA Finals, Randle is a new face that many Suns fans are probably unfamiliar with.
To that end (and because it’s September and there’s not really a whole lot going on), let’s take a look at some Frequently Asked Questions about Randle to paint a better picture of who he is, what he brings to the table and what to expect from this new addition.
According to Woj, Randle will be joining the Phoenix Suns on a training camp contract. That means they still have one regular roster spot available, one two-way contract open and two additional training camp openings to play with.
It’s pronounced “CHASE-en,” according to his Basketball-Reference page.
Randle is 28 years old. He will turn 29 next February.
Randle is listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds.
Randle used to play the shooting guard spot in his younger days, but he now plays the point guard position.
Randle was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1993. He was highly recruited out of Rock Island High School after leading his team to its first Illinois state championship and sharing Illinois Mr. Basketball honors with Ryan Boatright from East Aurora. He is his high school’s all-time leading scorer (2,159 points) and rebounder (733 rebounds).
Randle chose Stanford over Illinois and Purdue, playing for the Cardinal from 2011-15.
As a freshman, Randle earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors and helped lead Stanford to the 2012 NIT title. His junior year was when he moved to the point guard spot, filling in for the injured Aaron Bright. He performed well in his new role, earning First Team All-Pac-12 Conference honors and leading the Cardinal to the Sweet 16 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
During his senior season, Randle scored his 2,000th point, becoming the third player in school history to reach that mark. He earned First Team All-Pac-12 Conference honors for the second year in a row and was named the 2014-15 Pac 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He earned Most Outstanding Player honors in the 2015 NIT and graduated as Stanford’s all-time leading scorer at the time with 2,375 points.
Here are his college numbers:
After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Randle joined the Golden State Warriors for 2015 NBA Summer League. He was signed by CEZ Nymburg of the Czech Republic’s National Basketball League in July, helping them win the NBL’s championship for the 2015-16 season.
In July of 2016, he joined the New York Knicks for Summer League. He signed with the team in August but only played in three preseason games before being waived in October. Ten days later, the Knicks’ D-League team signed him. In 20 games with the Westchester Knicks, he averaged 20.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on .427/.422/.817 shooting splits.
In January 2017, Randle earned a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. He made his NBA debut a few days later, signed a second 10-day contract with the Sixers and ultimately earned a three-year deal with the team. He was assigned to Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, recalled the next day and then waived two weeks later to clear up a spot on their roster for a trade.
Randle signed with the New York Knicks a few days after that but was waived in September due to the Carmelo Anthony trade. A few weeks after that, he signed with Real Madrid, winning a EuroLeague championship during the 2017-18 season despite only averaging 2.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.
Randle signed with the Washington Wizards for training camp leading into the 2018-19 season and was waived in October. He signed with their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He bounced between the Wizards and their G League team for the whole season.
In August 2019, Randle joined the Tianjin Pioneers of the Chinese Basketball Association. He scored a career-high 44 points in December of 2019, ultimately averaging 24.8 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game in the CBA.
In March 2020, the Warriors signed Randle to a 10-day contract, but due to the season being shut down by the coronavirus, he became a free agent before the NBA restart in the bubble.
In January 2021, Randle played for the Oklahoma City Blue. The following month, the Orlando Magic signed him to a two-way contract, and he won a G League championship with the Lakeland Magic. He became a free agent over the summer and now joins the Suns for training camp.
Randle has played 119 career NBA games, split between the Wizards (49 games), Magic (41 games), Knicks (18 games), 76ers (eight games) and Warriors (three games). He holds career averages of 5.7 points, 1.8 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the field, 36.1 percent from 3-point range (on 2.6 attempts per game) and 79.9 percent from the foul line.
While he isn’t much of a playmaker, Randle is at least something of a threat from 3-point range, shooting 36.1 percent from 3 for his NBA career, including 40 percent with the Wizards a few seasons ago.
Unfortunately, he only made 33.8 percent of his 3s with the Magic last year, and his slow, unorthodox release that sees him spring forward with his jump feels more like loading a catapult than a reliable jump shot.
He’s another ball-handler, but to this point, he’s still trying to prove he has NBA-caliber skills that make him worth keeping on a 15-man roster.
Probably not. With Chris Paul, Cameron Payne and Elfrid Payton on the Suns’ roster already, not to mention Devin Booker able to play some “Point Book” minutes as well, Phoenix doesn’t really need a scoring guard who has yet to prove he can efficiently do so at the NBA level.
Randle is well-traveled, fitting in with James Jones’ team-building strategy that we recently saw with the Chandler Hutchison pickup. But there’s probably a reason he hasn’t stuck with any of the five teams he’s suited up for. Barring injury, it’s highly unlikely the Phoenix Suns find a use for him beyond training camp as they look to get back to the Finals in 2022.
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