Oklahoma City Lands Tyson Chandler

February 17th, 2009 by Andrew Wamboldt

According to an ESPN report by Marc Stein, the Oklahoma City Thunder are closing in on a deal for Tyson Chandler.

The New Orleans Hornets and Oklahoma City are closing in on a deal that will send center Tyson Chandler to the Thunder, according to NBA front-office sources.

Two sources with knowledge of the trade parameters told ESPN.com that the deal is likely to be completed later Tuesday.

Although the entirety of the package New Orleans would receive for Chandler was not immediately known, ESPN.com reported early Monday that the Hornets — who are looking to move Chandler mostly for financial reasons — were in talks with the Thunder on a trade that would net the expiring contracts of forwards Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox.

The Thunder also possess numerous draft picks to sweeten trade packages, including five first-round picks in the next two drafts.

It is a shame to see this one go through, as Tyson Chandler would have been a good fit for the Bulls if they were to acquire one of the scoring bigs, or even if they didn’t. The Bulls could have offered a packaged based around Drew Gooden’s expiring contract.

The Bulls are obviously trying to catch bigger fish than Chandler, and they need Gooden’s expiring contract to do so. But if they fail to catch one of these bigger fish, they will have let a great interior defender get by, who could have vastly improved the Bulls defense.

Chandler to Oklahoma City makes a lot of sense. He was a fan favorite when the Hornets used to play in Oklahoma City. If Chandler didn’t get traded to the Hornets now, there was a good chance they would sign him in 2010.

The good news, for Bulls fans, is that this trade effectively takes the Thunder out of the Ben Gordon sweepstakes this summer, as the Thunder will be on the hook for around $54 million when you factor in their first round draft picks and the salary cap will probably be around $59 million, at the most.