Chris Paul stays with Phoenix Suns, agreeing to four-year, $120 million deal

Chris Paul is staying in the Valley.

After leading the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals in his first season with the franchise, Paul has agreed to a four-year, $120 million deal with the Suns after declining a $44.2 million option to become an unrestricted free agent.

The Republic confirmed the deal that was first reported by ESPN and Yahoo! Sports.

Paul finished fifth in NBA MVP voting this past season after the Suns traded four players, with two being starters in Kelly Oubre Jr. and Ricky Rubio, and a future first-round pick to Oklahoma City for the 16-year veteran and reserve forward Abdel Nader.

The 36-year-old paired up with fellow All-Star Devin Booker to form one of the league's top backcourts as the Suns reached the finals for the first time since 1993 after having last made the playoffs in 2010.

Paul had two special closeout series victories in the postseason as he scored 37 in Game 4 at Denver and 41 to tie a playoff career high in Game 6 at Los Angeles against one of his former teams, the Clippers.

Paul ended the season with a 26-point performance in Game 6 of the NBA Finals the Suns lost in dropping four in a row against the Milwaukee Bucks after going up 2-0.

Now the future first-ballot Hall of Famer will continue his career in Phoenix in pursuit of a title.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NBA free agency: Suns' Chris Paul stays with 4-year, $120 million deal