Dallas Mavericks Should Keep Tyson Chandler

Having nothing whatsoever to do with the surprising NBA championship season of 2010-11, the Dallas Mavericks should strongly consider keeping center Tyson Chandler. I say this despite the team’s well-documented desire to land Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.

Again, this has nothing to do with what the Mavericks have accomplished with Chandler, which is more than they have during any other stretch during their highly competitive history spanning some 35 years.

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Sometimes, it’s hard to wrap your brain around the fact that Chandler has only played two seasons in a Dallas uniform. He entered the league back in 2001 when he was drafted second overall in the first round of the NBA draft by the Clippers, who, in turn, traded Chandler on draft night to the Chicago Bulls.

Yes, Chandler has been around a while, and it’s probably impossible to simply overlook Chandler’s impact on that memorable ’11 run to the NBA title against the “world’s greatest player,” LeBron James.

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It’s also true that Chandler doesn’t have the strongest track record of success where health is concerned. Further, he will turn 33 in October, making him the type of player that probably doesn’t have too many years left.

But haven’t we been saying the same thing about 2011 NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, who’s 37?

So what’s the big deal surrounding Jordan?

I guess I’d have a higher opinion of landing the former Texas A&M star if could hit free throws, but the reality is that he just can’t. Further, he has no interest in perfecting one of basketball’s most basic and gratuitous scoring opportunities.

Chandler has no issues hitting free throws – he’s actually pretty good for such a big guy.

Greg Chin of HoopsHabit makes an argument this week that signing Jordan should be Dallas’ top priority of the offseason, which begins along with the month of July. I can’t say that he’s off the mark at all on this idea. Adding Jordan certainly changes some things where the Mavericks are concerned, but for the money involved, is there that much difference?

I get that Jordan is younger, 27 in a few weeks, than Chandler and that his athleticism is superior, although not vastly superior. Again, I can’t get beyond the fact that Jordan stinks at the free throw line.

Many wanted the Mavericks to end up with Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard a couple of years ago. The only hesitation with that move, aside from the fact that Howard is a mental midget and total diva, is the fact that he can’t hit free throws — big guys under the rim get fouled, a lot.

Well, Jordan is noticeably worse than Howard.

This is like a friend of mine who once told me that it’s no big deal that he always writes “you’re” when he actually means “your.”

In other words, if you know that there’s a problem, then fix the dang thing.

In Jordan’s case, he obviously doesn’t care.

Can we say that Jordan, with all that talent surrounding him in L.A., has a championship pedigree? Anything close to that?

Now, might Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle have a thing or two to do with improving Jordan’s charity stripe performances?

Almost certainly.

But at what cost?

Everyone thought that point guard Rajon Rondo would blend in with Carlisle, and look what happened there. I’ve never seen a professional athlete so disinterested in his own reputation as well as his teammates’ chances at postseason success.

This is not to say that Jordan is Rondo, but it is to suggest that sometimes high-profile veterans who come from the outside, like Lamar Odom immediately following the ’11 championship, just don’t fit in, in some cases because they just don’t want to.

Obviously Jordan would be coming to the Mavericks by choice, unlike the other examples just mentioned.

But I still ponder the question of whether or not Jordan is really worth millions more dollars than Chandler.

According to Spotrac.com, Chandler earned just less than $14.6 million last season. Jordan took home just less than $11.5 million in what looks like his final season with the Clippers.

Moving ahead, Chandler will be trying to beat what he earned a year ago, but I’m not sure by how much he’s going to beat that mark. He’s not going to receive a max contract while Jordan certainly will.

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Is there as much as $5 million difference, or more, between these two players?

Some would say absolutely, others might scratch their head to ponder that question.

I would simply stay with what I know, which is that Chandler knows how to advance in the postseason, something we’ve never seen during Jordan’s time with the Clippers – again, a team with no shortage of talent.

I’ll leave you with this dilemma:

Would you rather have Jordan next season, or the combination of Chandler and Brandan Wright, who’s also an unrestricted free agent?

Next: Dallas Mavericks: The Latest On LaMarcus Aldridge And DeAndre Jordan

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