It’s been 175 days since New York and Dallas completed a six-player trade that sent Tyson Chandler to the Mavericks and Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin to the Knicks.
Late in the afternoon on June 25, both teams looked like they upgraded in different ways in Phil Jackson’s first major deal as Knicks president. Dallas needed rim protection and added a familiar face in Chandler, a starter on their 2011 title team. New York needed a competent point guard in Calderon and felt it had to go in a new direction after a bitterly disappointing 2013-2014 season.
Fast forward to the present and it seems like the Knicks got beat pretty badly in this one, while the Mavs got just what they wanted in Chandler: A veteran difference maker and leader on and off the court.
“He’s fit right back in,” said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle. “He walked in the door as, really, one of the present leaders of our team.”
The Knicks wanted to get some early season momentum under new coach Derek Fisher, but they lost Calderon for the first 13 games of the regular season with a calf strain suffered in the final preseason game. Without Calderon and with the help of some abysmal late-game execution, New York has nosedived into a nightmarish 5-22 start.
Dallas is off to a strong start buoyed by the league’s most efficient offense. The Mavs’ defensive rating and scoring defense are still in the league’s bottom third, but Chandler has helped their rim protection and given the team hope that it can contest shots down low near the restricted area.
“We’re a capable defensive team that needs to work to continue to get better,” Carlisle said. “We’ve had some good stretches, but consistency is something we’ve gotta continue to work at. We’re just not there yet.”
The Mavericks were 27th in the league in field goal defense from within five feet last season, and you could see how things are better this season from the following chart:
| Rim Protection (League Rank) | Opp FG % < 5 FT | Opp Paint Points | Points Per Shot |
| Dallas 2013-2014 | 61.6 (27) | 43.6 (18) | 1.26 (23) |
| Dallas 2014-2015 | 56.9 (9) | 38.8 (3) | 1.24 (20) |
“We’re continuing to climb the ladder defensively,” Chandler told SheridanHoops. “I think we’ve got a long way to go, but my goal is to get us rolling sometime after the All-Star break and hit stride and be where we want to be defensively into the playoffs.”
The mere notion of the playoffs must seem galaxies away for the Knicks, who still have not recovered from Calderon’s absence despite the Spaniard having played more games now (14) than he has missed.
“I think my legs are back, I’m healthy, and I’m trying to help my team win games,” Calderon told SheridanHoops. He stressed that the Knicks are really working hard to get the wins, but it just hasn’t translated on the court yet.
Calderon’s shooting numbers are fairly similar to last season, but his scoring and assist numbers are down and his offensive rating has decreased seven points per 100 possessions from a season ago.
“In the last few weeks, he’s had to kind of re-acclimate himself in short order, playing a lot of minutes in limited practice time,” said Knicks coach Derek Fisher. “But he’s been fantastic for us and I think he’s getting more comfortable controlling the game and understanding what we need. And as time goes on, I think he’ll get even more comfortable.”
Dalembert was brought in to be a defensive presence and he’s done that very well. Their rim protection is still pretty good with Dalembert essentially replacing Chandler at the center position.
| Rim Protection (League Rank) | Opp FG % < 5 FT | Opp Paint Points | Points Per Shot |
| New York 2013-2014 | 58.9 (12) | 39.5 (6) | 1.27 (28) |
| New York 2014-2015 | 55.3 (3) | 37.4 (4) | 1.26 (24) |
New York has been very good around the rim and limiting points in the paint, but its points per shot numbers are still dreadful because the Knicks allow 8.7 threes per game, the third-worst mark in the league. They’re allowing teams to shoot 37.1 percent from three this season, good for 27th. They also allow 19.1 made free throws per game, 25th in the league.
The problem with Dalembert this season is that his offensive game has completely bottomed out. His shooting is down from 56.8 percent to 43.4 percent, a totally embarrassing number for a center. Dallas scored 117 points per 100 possessions with Dalembert on the floor last season, but that number is down to 91 points per 100 with the Knicks this year, a 26-point dropoff that completely negates anything he has done defensively.
“I don’t think Sam has any desire to be involved offensively,” Fisher said. “He’s committed to being a defensive force and he takes the offense that comes to him.”
Larkin is the interesting case for the Knicks. Before the regular season began, New York declined to exercise his option for the 2015-2016 season, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer. Larkin has been one of the team’s few pleasant surprises, showing a marked improvement on offense and someone you’d want to keep on the cheap to take a closer look at going forward.
| Larkin Improvement | Minutes | FG % | 3 FG % | Points | Assists | Steals | O Rating | D Rating | WS/48 |
| Dallas 2013-2014 | 10.2 | 38 | 31.6 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 90 | 110 | -0.01 |
| New York 2014-2015 | 23.3 | 41.8 | 44.4 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 106 | 111 | 0.55 |
Larkin is shooting nearly 13 percentage points better from three, and teams are scoring 16 more points per 100 possessions with Larkin on the floor year over year. He’s becoming a decent back-end rotation player and will get a look from someone next summer in free agency after the Knicks blew a chance to retain him for cheap.
Back to Dallas. Chandler was able to stay healthy over the summer and into the season, luck which the Knicks did not have with Chandler last season or Calderon in the beginning of this season.
“He works extremely hard with our training staff to keep himself strong, balanced and keep himself on the floor,” Carlisle said. “And there are never any guarantees with that. Injuries happen but we have a great staff and he puts in the work.”
That work Chandler put in has gotten notice from one new Maverick player in particular, Chandler Parsons.
“He’s one of my favorite guys I’ve ever played with,” Parsons told SheridanHoops. “Just on and off the court he’s a leader, and getting close with him, I know nothing is ever personal with him.”
While everyone admits the defense is far from a finished product, Parsons appreciates his teammate’s presence in the paint.
“Defensively, he gives me a lot of confidence when I guard players like Melo or Kobe or LeBron,” Parsons said. “Knowing he’s behind me definitely gives me a lot more confidence allows me to be aggressive and more physical.”
While the last 175 days have been quite painful for the Knicks, Chandler feels right at home with Dallas in trying to lead them to another improbable championship run.
“I want to help lead this team to something special,” Chandler said.
There could be a saving grace in this trade for Jackson and the Knicks. New York acquired a pair of second-round picks in the deal, which became injured forward Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ older brother. Antetokounmpo is showing good flashes in the D-League and could end up being the only long-term piece the Knicks get out of the trade.
But for right now, all the Knicks can do is look towards a potentially brighter future while looking back at the impact of the move they made nearly six months ago.
Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for SheridanHoops who focuses on analytics, profiles and features. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. You should follow him on Twitter.