I noticed a couple people asking whether or not Wilson Chandler is really as good as many Hornets247 members believe. I decided to do a little research to give you a solid answer.
Wilson Chandler: 6’8”, 225 lbs (Age: 24)
Rookie Year (2007-2008): Wilson Chandler was selected 23rd overall by the New York Knicks coming out of his sophomore season at DePaul. As a rookie, he played in just 35 games (16 starts), and averaged 7.3 points and shot .438 over 19.6 minutes. He appeared in just 7 of the Knicks’ first 49 games, but then saw action in 28 of the team’s last 33. His averages in his rookie season are very similar to Paul George’s of the Indiana Pacers.
Sophomore Season (2008-2009): Chandler showed continued improvement in every aspect of his game. He started 70 of 82 games for the Knicks his sophomore season, averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds and shot .432 over 33.4 minutes. He was the only Knick to play all 82 games that season. He scored 20+ points 18 times, 2 of which were 30+. He finished the season strong, averaging 16.9 points on .451 shooting over his last 19 games.
(2009-2010): Chandler’s next season was shortened by injury. In 65 games, Chandler averaged a career-high 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and shot a career-high .479 over 35.7 minutes. One glaring weakness in his game this season was his three-ball. He only shot .267 percent from beyond the arc. He notched sixteen 20+ scoring games, one of which was a 35 point effort against the Kings.
(2010-2011): Wilson Chandler continues to develop into one of the most consistent young players in the league. While in New York this past season, he averaged 16.4 points on .461 percent shooting, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and just 1.3 turnovers in 34.5 minutes of play. In Denver, though, his number took a dip across the board. He played 30.6 mpg in Denver through 21 games and averaged 12.5 points on .419 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.8 turnovers. This could have occurred because he wasn’t used to Coach Karl’s system, or because he wasn’t used to playing the two which he was forced to do some nights. Another reason for his decline could have been because Denver is so packed with talent on the wings (Afflalo, Gallinari, J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton), that he felt he could take on a lesser scoring role and concentrate on being a defense stopper, which probably wasn’t a priority in New York. Either way, he still shows great defensive and offensive abilities that continue to improve. He shot much better from the three last season, at about 35%.
(2010-2011 Postseason): I don’t know how to explain his postseason slump. It could have been caused from having to chase down the likes of Kevin Durant and James Harden and then being guarded by Sefolosha all series long. But still, he played 20.3 minutes and averaged 4.3 points and 4.4 rebounds on .276 percent shooting from the field. Ouch. A drop-off that steep is horrific to say the least. Stage fright was how Coach Karl explained it, which is reasonable, considering it was only his fourth season and he just turned twenty four.
Injured History: Underwent surgery on Jun. 3 to remove bone spurs from left ankle. Underwent left ankle arthroscopy on Apr. 14, to clean out scar tissue…Underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia on May 14, performed by Philadelphia-area Dr. William Meyers.
8 responses to “Wilson Chandler”
Nicely done. I wonder how his stats translate over to teams with a much slower pace. If he were to come here, he would have fewer offensive possessions to get his numbers and fewer transition opportunities.
I think his value lies on the defensive end. People call Ariza a “defensive stopper” but Chandler’s defensive numbers were FAR superior to Ariza’s. When guarding small forward’s, Ariza allowed his counterpart to shoot 51%, producing a PER of 16.1. Conversely, Chandler’s counterpart at the 3 shot just 42% while he was in Denver and they produced a per of 9.7. That is a HUGE difference.
Offensive numbers are nice, but this organization is all about defense and the numbers say that Chandler would be a huge upgrade on both sides of the ball. The numbers also say that both Ariza and Chandler were absolutely awful when they played the two-guard position this year, so it is one or the other- not both.
Thanks for the journal. Keep them coming.
One question mark that floats around Chandler’s name is the fact that he put up his best numbers in Mike D’Antoni’s system, which is widely viewed as an offensive inflating one. What short time he played in a different system unsuccessfully puts up some red flags in my book, I’d like to think after being placed into a more comfortable environment he could easily return to his more efficient numbers but that still remains to be seen. His defensive numbers are quick nice however and it makes his overall game appealing. Honestly I can’t see the Hornets making a run at him since its such a smaller priority over others, for the Hornets to upgrade their starting 3 at the moment.
Nice write up!
DownUnder, if I may spin off your “Mike D’Antoni’s…offensive inflating” comment, I would like to add that if we are going to take those numbers into consideration we should also note who is teammates were, what was their overall team record, and in which division they played. In doing so, we will have better idea of how he will fair on the Hornets squad, of which is in the toughest division in the league.
Conversely, if we don’t consider those type of factors, then players like Monta Ellis, Kevin Love, and Marcus Thorton should be exalted, despite not facing adversity, whilst playing on last place teams. Throw them and perhaps Wilson Chandler on a defensive minded playoff team, then they just might fall by the wayside. That is to say, there’s only one way to find out.
Sounds like the Bulls, too, right? No adversity, etc. They were the best in the worst division and couldn’t stand up to the 2nd place team. Lakers? They were swept by the champs . . . Not sure if that’s better than losing handily to losers or not, all with a so-called MVP who couldn’t “pull a Dirk” and lead his team.
I’m wondering why Marcus is the only player player you mention from the Kings that is over-rated. Why not Cousins? Doesn’t the same logic apply there? Evans?
Thanks in advance for taking care with your answers.
The other guys aren’t former Hornets, so that’s not it . . .
Good post. Lots of good info here.
Yes I agree with Joe Gerrity, that was a good post, but do you really think that chandler is going to help convince paul that we should be the team that he should be with. nope i don’t think so. if defense, defense, defense, wouldn’t be on the hornets mind all the time we could do more. the key to having a championship team is not only to defense, but to have players with offensive standards as well. if we find a way to W.C. without losing so much I’m up for it, but the hornets basically needs a big 3 (PG, SG, & PF) that can do both offense and defense because what’s the point if your like the Hornets who have all that defense and no offense, along with a rebounding-defensive-tall (Center), the 5th starter we need him to be mostly Defense (SF), next we need one or scoring role player with a 6th Man off the bench to keep everything going. the rest is supporters of the supporting cast and just plain old do defense,rebounding with a lit of offense like our team is now. the hornets showed 75% defense, 15% athletsium, 10% offense, we need to at least change it to 65% maybe even 60% defense, 10% (Atl), & 30% offense in order to even think about being contenders for a championship.
“I noticed a couple people asking whether or not Wilson Chandler is really as good as many Hornets247 members believe. I decided to do a little research to give you a solid answer.”
Much appreciated.
42 is this site super hero lol