Which Wilson Chandler Will Show Up?
Despite his injury in their first preseason game, Chandler will play a huge role for the 76ers this season. However, the team should be leery of which version they will get. Will they get the player who averaged 10.0 points for the Denver Nuggets in 2017-18 or will they see the 15.7 point scorer from 2016-17? Maybe part of the reason for his big drop-off in production was his low usage rate compared to other seasons. According to Basketball Reference, Chandler had the lowest usage rate of his career last year in Denver (at 14.3 percent). With Simmons’ passing ability, maybe Chandler’s scoring totals can go up a good chunk.
Why Chandler is such a big deal is because he will be replacing the shooting and leadership of Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli. While both players weren’t core members, they provided a huge spark to the Sixers’ second unit. If Chandler can come in and provide the team that same energy, this team could be a force to be reckoned with.
Chandler is also versatile enough to play small forward and power forward. The Sixers will need his veteran leadership off the bench as well as his .358 shooting from three-point territory.
Next Up: No. 2