PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) _Veteran forward Tom Chambers became the first unrestricted free agent to go to another NBA team, signing a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract Tuesday with the Phoenix Suns.

Chambers, 29, who played out his option last season after five years with the Seattle SuperSonics, was allowed to sign with any NBA team without his former club receiving any compensation or having the right of first refusal.

Terms of the contract were not announced, in keeping with club policy. But Suns president Jerry Colangelo said “it is safe to say” Chambers is now Phoenix’s highest-paid player and one of the top salaried forwards in the league.

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Chambers earned $956,000 last season with Seattle and reportedly had a four-year, $5 million offer from the SuperSonics.

Last Friday was the first day for teams to sign unrestricted free agents and Chambers said his agent, Howard Slusher, received a telephone call from Suns assistant coach Paul Westphal at 12:01 a.m. Friday, asking to set up contract talks.

“On Saturday, (Suns head coach) Cotton (Fitzsimmons), Paul Westphal and myself met with Howard at his home (in Rolling Hills, Calif.),” Colangelo said. “We started at nine in the morning and ended at 5 o’clock at night. By the end of the day, we had agreed to agree.”

“They came in the door and offered me a deal. I couldn’t refuse it,” Chambers said at a news conference. “It caught me off-guard. I was prepared to talk to six or seven other teams. I was in a unique situation to be able to pick and choose a team. I never had a chance to talk to anybody else.”

Chambers, the MVP of the 1987 All-Star Game, averaged 20.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for Seattle last season. In his seven-year NBA career, he has averaged 19.5 points and 6.6 rebounds during regular-season play and 21.6 points in the playoffs.

Chambers originally was signed by the then-San Diego Clippers in 1981 out of the University of Utah and was traded to Seattle on Aug. 18, 1983 in a multi-player deal.