Los Angeles Lakers: Don’t overreact to Tyson Chandler’s impact

The Los Angeles Lakers signed recently bought out Tyson Chandler and after one game in the purple and gold, many are calling Chandler exactly what LA needed.

The Los Angeles Lakers made the first move of the regular season by signing recently bought out Tyson Chandler. While Chandler is far, far past his prime, signing him made a ton of sense of paper as the Lakers needed help down low.

Chandler’s size, rebounding and interior defense is exactly what the Lakers needed. While JaVale McGee has been surprisingly good this season, the Lakers often after to rely on a smaller lineup when he is on the bench.

Ivica Zubac is a decent backup size-wise but plays nowhere close to the level that McGee plays. The other primary backup, Johnathan Williams, is a feel-good story but seriously lacks true center size at six-foot-nine.

Chandler made his Lakers on Wednesday night and was exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers ordered. While he only put two points on the board, Chandler snagged eight rebounds and played great defensively in the 23 minutes he was on the court.

Rajon Rondo even went out of his way to give high praise to Chandler.

If you want to read an in-depth piece on Chandler’s impact on the Lakers in his first game I would check this article out. Dave McMenamin of ESPN did a great job on the coverage.

As great of a story as it is to see Chandler out there having an impact in LA, the NBA world is getting a bit ahead of itself.

Chandler definitely did have an impact on the defensive side of the ball and did make the team better than they would have been otherwise, that is without question. However, touting Chandler as “exactly what the team needs” is a bit of an overreaction.

Chandler is still not that great on defense. Chandler has not posted a defensive rating under 100 since the 2011-2012 season. Over the last four seasons, Chandler’s best defensive rating is 107.

Through eight games this season Chandler has a defensive rating of 111. To compare, the Los Angeles Lakers have a team defensive rating of 112.7 and Chandler’s 111 puts him right with LeBron James, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac.

Statistically, Chandler is slightly better than some of the others on the roster but still is nowhere close someone that will have a huge impact on the team. Will he have an impact? Sure. Will he have a massive impact? Not at all.

It is okay to get excited about Tyson Chander being a Laker. I totally get that. However, let’s slow down and let him play more than one game before we get ahead of ourselves.