Tyson Chandler might actually be on the move
By Adam Maynes
If you’re a baseball fan, you are still waiting for the promised large amount of player movement in the offseason; waiting for the big domino to fall so that potentially dozens of smaller moves can be made, even moves that could re-shape the face of many teams.
As the NBA inches closer and closer to the trade deadline on February 8, the potential for one specific move is currently holding up the opportunity for several others to be made, one in particular that specifically could effect the Phoenix Suns.
Veteran center and fan favorite Tyson Chandler is under contract through next season and a piece that Suns management would likely prefer to move. Chandler is a self-less, defensive-minded player that many teams, specifically playoffs teams, would love to somehow add to their roster.
The question is, if the Suns are willing to move him and he is an asset that teams would love to add, then why hasn’t he been traded yet?
Tyson Chandler, and the Phoenix Suns, likely have to wait for that first big domino to drop:
There is no doubt – nor argument – that Jordan is a center more capable of helping a team reach their championship aspirations than Chandler. A superstar threat on both ends of the floor, Jordan’s age too makes him more valuable to prospective teams as he can be re-signed and remain with a new team for many more years, whereas Chandler may in fact retire after next season.
At the same time, Chandler is nothing to raise one’s nose at. While no Jordan, one cannot ignore Chandler’s 9.1ppg and 13.7rbg per-36min and laugh off his intense leadership and defensive intangibles, stats not too far off from Jordan’s 13.2ppg and 16.6rbg.
As teams seek depth and improvement of their roster, the trade deadline is beginning to loom large in the distance. With so little time left before such dramatic moves can no longer be made and playoff rosters are all but set, as soon as that first domino falls, then Tyson Chandler’s time in the Valley of the Suns might come to an end.
Where then might Chandler go? It depends on where DeAndre Jordan doesn’t.