NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Teams That Should Trade For Tyson Chandler
3. New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are a playoff desperate team out West, but they don’t have many assets to work with in terms of their actual personnel. That wouldn’t deter a team like the Suns, who should be pick-hunting in pretty much any deal they swing this February.
The Suns would have little use for Tyreke Evans if they traded for him, especially if they don’t end up moving Eric Bledsoe or Brandon Knight. Evans hits free agency this summer and he’s still shaking off rust after missing the first 26 games of the season while recovering from knee surgery.
That being said, he could function as a bench playmaker in the event of a Knight or Bledsoe trade, and even if the Suns just let him walk this summer, they’d be netting another future first. That’s more than enough reason to take on an expiring contract like Reke’s.
More from NBA
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- Constructing the NBA’s perfect all-under-25 starting five
As for the Pellies, they’d be making a move for Chandler to bolster a frontcourt that has zero depth outside of Anthony Davis. At the center spot, Omer Asik is averaging a negligible 16.7 minutes per game, and having Chandler would only help a team that surprisingly ranks in the top 10 for defensive rating and rebounds per game.
The offensive end is where Chandler would really help. His rim runs out of pick and rolls would make him a great fit alongside Jrue Holiday and Tim Frazier, and it’s worth noting that Chandler’s 105.9 offensive rating leads all Suns players who are actually part of the rotation.
Chandler is not exactly the superstar-caliber addition New Orleans is looking for, and a future first round pick might be too steep an asking price. But he would undoubtedly make the Pelicans a better team, and since they’re only one game out of a playoff spot, perhaps desperation for a frontcourt complement to the Brow would make this deal seem more sensible for both sides.