Pickup of the Week: Tyson Chandler
by Court E. Mann - Associate Editor, Fanball.com
Tuesday, December 7, 2004

The Bulls have yet to recover from investing the future of their franchise in two teenage prodigies, but four years later, we're prepared to recommend that fantasy owners throw more money into one of the Baby Bulls.

While center Eddy Curry continues to boggle the mind with inconsistent play and shoddy effort, power forward Tyson Chandler is finally separating himself from his first-round counterpart, if only with his desire and hustle.

The seven-foot, fourth-year veteran—yes, it has been that long—currently ranks 16th in the NBA in rebounding with a career-high 9.4 per game, smack dab between fantasy stalwarts Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire. But his season average on the glass doesn't tell the whole story. In his last five games, Chandler has averaged nearly 13 boards per night, including huge totals of 21 caroms last Saturday and 18 just three nights before.

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That stretch of unparalleled window washing coincides exactly with Bulls coach Scott Skiles' decision to bring Chandler off the bench rather than to install him in the starting lineup. Whether Tyson has taken the benching to heart, is better suited to the sixth-man role, or is destined to return to the starting lineup should make no difference to fantasy owners—all that matters is that he's coming into games with a decided purpose, playing over 30 minutes per game, and currently pulling down misses at a rate that would rank him in the among the Association's top five rebounders.

Chandler is of course no Boozer or Stoudemire—he doesn't exactly have the strongest portfolio of post moves—but he's also no Reggie Evans. In addition to his impressive rebounding totals, Chandler has considerable upside on the defensive end. In his new role, he has posted 1.4 blocks and one steal per game, and he has the wingspan and instincts to improve on those shot-blocking totals.

He won't kill you on the offensive end, either. He has posted about 10 points per game in his recent surge and is shooting 49 percent from the field on the season. Consider him a poor man's Kenyon Martin—much of his scoring comes in transition, off of guard penetration, or on offensive rebounds.

After collecting 48 rebounds in three games last week, Tyson is leaping off of waiver wires right now, and for good reason. Against the Wizards, he added 15 points, three blocks, one steal, seven-for-eight shooting from the charity stripe, and three assists to his season-high 21 rebounds. Against his hometown Lakers three days before that, he collected 10 points, 18 boards, three steals, one block, and three assists. If he can manage to sustain anywhere near this kind of production, he'll be a solid No. 3 forward in most fantasy formats, not to mention how valuable he would be in your center spot (he has started there twice this season).

Perhaps the best news—and a large part of our optimism about seeing these contributions long-term—is that we've heard very little about the back problems that plagued him in what looked like a breakthrough season in 2003. The fact that Tyson is playing for his first big contract at the end of the year certainly won't hurt, either.

Unlike the Bulls, we're not about to rebuild our squad around the lanky youngster—but we're more than willing to give him a good look.