The deal is a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks, who receive Phoenix's 2012 second-round draft pick.
Childress, who played four seasons with the Hawks from 2004-08, has spent the previous two seasons with Greek club Olympiacos.
The five-year deal for Childress comes the week after the departure of Amar'e Stoudemire.
Childress, who is 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, was a former standout at Stanford earlier this decade.
While with the Hawks, Childress was primarily the first man off the bench while averaging 11.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals.
In Greece, Childress led the team with 15.8 points and a 23-3 record.
Suns head coach Alvin Gentry is certainly impressed with Childress and happy that he's a member of the team.
"Josh is a tremendous athlete who can play multiple positions," Gentry said on the Suns Web site. "We think he is going to be a great perimeter defender who can bring a lot on the offensive end, as well, with his ability to slash. Josh will add a lot to our team because he is so multitalented."
The addition of Childress gives the Suns another secondary scoring threat to go along with Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Grant Hil, and Robin Lopez.
And if the team finalizes a deal for Hedo Turkoglu, the team will have a wide array of scorers to help fill the void left by Stoudemire.
As we stated a few days ago, having an assortment of scorers isn't a bad thing, but signing a defensive-minded player probably wouldn't hurt. Expect the Suns to score (and score and score), but also give up points in droves.
To win a championship, you have to play some defense. It's probably safe to say the title won't be coming to Phoenix next year.
