Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve center Tyson Chandler. We dive into some stories behind the reportedly impending signing.
Los Angeles Lakers rumors popped up last week. It was reported that the Lakers were going to be in for the services of veteran center, Tyson Chandler.
Chandler was recently bought out of his contract by the Phoenix Suns over the weekend. It is widely considered that he will be picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers as soon as he clears waivers.
This tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN breaks down the situation of the buyout…
Suns and Chandler have had a mutual agreement on a buyout on his $13M-plus expiring deal for some time now, but Chandler needed a landing spot. Chandler found it with Lakers, who need size, and as @espn_macmahon says, will welcome his locker room presence. https://t.co/swUWLgLOOL
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2018
Pay particular attention to what Zach Lowe said in his part of the tweet.
The Los Angeles Lakers front office always had a plan dealing with the center situation. This roster was built for flexibility for future moves. The Lakers did a great job quickly grabbing Chandler (assuming he clears waivers) at a bargain basement price that does not mess with the business plan of building this roster.
Tyson Chandler is now in his 18th season after being a lottery draft pick of the Chicago Bulls (No Eddy Curry jokes please!) way back in 2001 out of high school. Even though Chandler’s production is on the decline, it is a low risk, high reward signing. Something that is considered best for business in the Lakers front office.
Adrian Wojnarowski breaks down how it affects the books…
"The prorated minimum for Chandler once he clears waivers will be $2.1 million. The Lakers will have a $1.3 million cap hit on the books."
If anyone believes that Tyson Chandler is the magic pill to answer all the Lakers issues on the defensive end, I can sell you those statues outside the Staples Center at $50,000 dollars apiece. It’s a steal of a deal ya’ll. Get them while they are still available.
What Tyson Chandler will bring to the Lakers is a legitimate backup to JaVale McGee, who was on pace to be totally worn out by game 25 with the atrocious defense the Lakers play. He has to work so hard to clean up so many messes on the back line (more on that later).
The biggest asset that Tyson Chandler can bring is professionalism and leadership to the locker room for the young players, which this team sorely needs at this point. I have stated on Lake Show Life numerous times that LeBron James‘ leadership overall leaves much to be desired and Rajon Rondo lost some stripes with the distraction of the brawl with Chris Paul against the Rockets.
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With all of the storylines going on with the Lakers with Magic Johnson voicing his displeasure to Luke Walton on how the team is playing these days, the Lakers will need a steady hand in Chandler to be a liaison and a calm voice in the locker room.
There are some underlying stories behind a signing that happens this quickly in the season. As Lowe stated above, these deals are unusual this early in the season. Let’s delve into what this signing symbolizes.