Houston Rockets: Is It Time To Make A Play For Wilson Chandler?

It’s that time of the year Houston Rockets fans, you know what I’m talking about, it’s one of Daryl Morey’s favorite times of the year.

Yep, you guessed it, the NBA’s oft-ballyhooed trade deadline.

As we know, for the most part, nothing interesting usually happens until right up until the deadline time.

But what’s the deadline for this season?

Thank you for asking!

For the 2016-17 season, the NBA trade deadline will be Thursday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. CST.

That’s a lot of time between now/then and I’m sure there will be some happenings going on.

Now keep in mind that it may be slightly muted this season because of the ridiculous amount of movement that occurred in free agency this past summer.

This was because of the NBA’s unwavering popularity and their escalating salary cap.

A lot of players signed long-term deals making them harder to move but there are some how are still on palatable contracts that were signed before the league received their huge windfall of cash.

Although not yet, there needs to be a player that should be connected with the Houston Rockets.

Who am I talking about?

I’m talking about Wilson Chandler.

This would be likely one of the last names you’d likely hear about me throwing out there but things aren’t quite so rosy in the Mile High City for him.

In fact, Mark Kizla of the Denver Post wrote last week that guys like Chandler need to think “long and hard” about if they want to remain with the Nuggets for years to come.

He also mentions teammates Jusuf Nurkic and Danilo Gallinari as those who need to take a gut-check because they don’t necessarily have a winning-type of mentality.

All three are disgruntled with the position that they’re in so it’s possible that any of these guys could be moved before the trade deadline.

It’s surprising that they’re feeling that way, considering that the Nuggets would qualify for the playoffs — if they started today — despite having a 23-29 record.

But we don’t know exactly what’s going on in the locker room so they may have good reason to be unhappy as far as the position that they’re in.

But the most appealing out of three aforementioned would be Chandler.

The 6’8,” 225-pound talent can partake in a multitude of roles on the court, including shooting guard, small forward or power forward.

He’s a natural “3” guy but versatility is everything when determining trade value and Chandler is certainly a guy that could fit the bill with the Houston Rockets.

He’s a decent shooter, solid on the rebounds and can certainly work well in the Rockets heralded pick-and-roll situations.

His biggest knock?

His defense — Chandler has never been known as a player who has had such a strong mindset in that realm and could certainly be a liability as a result.

To compare, Trevor Ariza — our top defensive player — has a defensive win share rating of 2.4 while Chandler has a 0.8 for 2016-17 so far.

This certainly means that he won’t help us win games with his defense but with the wide-range of offensive tools that he has available.

Next: Rockets Are Interested In Mario Chalmers and Jarrett Jack

So how much will he cost?

Chandler will make $11.2 million this season and still has two years left on the four-year, $46.5 million deal he signed back in 2015.

He’ll make on average of $12.4 million per season through the rest of his deal.

That sounded like a lot of money then but with salaries heading into the exosphere, it’s really not much.

Remember, Ryan Anderson was signed by the Rockets this off season for four-years, $80 million.

But is he worth trading for?

Absolutely — but only if a deal for Serge Ibaka falls through.

Ibaka is light-years ahead of Chandler in terms of an overall package but Ibaka makes $12.3 million this season off an expiring contract.

I’d trade Corey Brewer, K.J. McDaniels and our first-rounder this season to make this deal work.

No more, no less…

That’s what makes Ibaka the better deal.

Who knows how he’ll act when he’d join a contender and Jeff Bzdelik can work his magic to get him motivated to play better defense.

We’ll see as things get closer to the deadline.

Chandler, 29, is averaging 13.9 points, 6.1 rebounds while shooting 45.1 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from three and 73 percent from behind the charity stripe.

Go Rockets.

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