Around this same time last year, Tyson Chandler was battling the injury bug and had posted just 36 rebounds and 29 points through the first 22 games of the season as a member of the New York Knicks.
Through 22 games this season, and now a part of the Dallas Mavericks, Chandler has grabbed seven times as many rebounds and scored more than eight times as many points, while also chipping in with 29 assists and 32 blocks.
A fresh start, change of scenery, new teammates, and good health all contribute to Chandler’s recent resurgence, and his numbers to start the year are well worth some chatter.
Hanging Out with MVPs
With our nERD metric representing an estimate of how many games above or below .500 a league-average team would win with that player as one of their starters, it’s no surprise the guys currently ranked as the top-four are all MVP candidates this season - Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, and James Harden. Wanna take a stab at who comes in at number five?
| Player | nERD | nF EFF |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Davis | 22.6 | 7.1 |
| Chris Paul | 19.6 | 6.1 |
| Stephen Curry | 19.2 | 6.4 |
| James Harden | 16.1 | 4.8 |
| Tyson Chandler | 14.5 | 4.9 |
I know. I know. Chandler isn’t an MVP candidate . And in respect to the other players listed in the chart above, Chandler accounts for the lowest percentage (18.5) of his team’s overall nERD out of that group. However, neither of those facts should take away from Chandler’s strong start to the season or his overall contribution to the Mavericks, who currently have a 4.4 percent chance of winning the title, according to our numbers.
Full Circle Offense
While his 11.3 points per game won’t stack up with the scoring averages of other starting centers, it’s difficult to find a player shooting as efficiently as Chandler anywhere in the league (hat tip to Kyle Korver).
Chandler does have the benefit of playing alongside guys like Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons, and Monta Ellis, all of whom can create their own shots, but the 32-year-old center isn’t shooting 70 percent from the floor on accident. A vast majority of his scoring comes within three feet of the bucket, which can be directly attributed to Chandler’s league-leading offensive rebounding percentage.
As a result, not only do the Mavericks benefit from Chandler’s energy on the offensive glass by ranking top-five in second chance points, but Chandler’s also on pace for the best offensive rating (137) of his 14-year career.
The Mavs also receive a nice boost on defense when Chandler’s on the court. His defensive rebounding percentage of 28.9 is fourth amongst guys having played at least 480 minutes this season, and opponents’ offensive rating decreases 6.8 points with Chandler on the floor.
Throw all that in a bowl together, slosh it around and you have Chandler on pace for a career year - and some pretty impressive numbers when you stack them up against the rest of the league.
| Player | PER (Rank) | WS (Rank) | WS/48 (Rank) | VORP (Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson Chandler, 2014-15 | 23.8 (9) | 3.4 (6) | .254 (6) | 4.7 (10) |
Fantasy Note
By unwritten rule, the popular decision at this point would probably be to sell, sell, sell. Most would argue that Chandler’s stock will never be as high as it is right now, and that’s a hard one to counter. Additionally, when you take durability into account, Chandler hasn’t played more than 66 games in a season in three years.
That said, Chandler has a really good thing going in Dallas. He’s on a playoff team and surrounded with solid scoring types, both of which can be convincing enough to believe his high volume rebounding and steady double-digit scoring (he’s scored at least 10 points in 63 percent of his games so far) can remain consistent throughout the year.
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