NBA Free Agents 2011: Dallas Mavericks Must Re-Sign Tyson Chandler at All Costs

Tyson Chandler is a free agent this year, and he's arguably the most important player on the market. Mark Cuban must do whatever he needs to do to keep the center with the Mavericks. Chandler is so much more than his numbers, but the numbers reflect a lot. 

First, and most importantly, let's look at the most important numbers, which are wins and losses. Oftentimes it's not just what a single player does by himself, but it's what players do in tandem with one another. Chandler is the Yin to Dirk Nowitzki's Yang. 

Nowitzki is one of the truly great scorers in the league but he's not as good of a defender as he is an offensive player (though I believe he is underrated as a defensive player). Chandler is a really good defensive player, giving up just .85 points per play on the defensive end. 

When both players started, the Mavericks were 42-12. When either one or the other was missing they were 15-13. The Mavs were 54-20 with Chandler, they were 3-5 without him. Chandler does something to make the Mavericks a better team. That's not a theory, that's history. 

The question is, what exactly is it he does? The 10.1 points and 9.4 boards a game sure don't indicate a lot. On both ends of the court the Mavericks were better all year long. When Chandler was on the court the Mavs scored 110.8 points and gave up just 103.17 per 100 possessions. 

When Chandler was off the court, the Mavericks scored only 107.64 points and gave up 106.53. While he was on the bench the Mavericks were only 1.11 points better than their opponents. When he was on the court they were 7.63 points better than their opponents. 

There is something they refer to in the NBA as a "glue guy." That's the player that does a lot of the little things that don't show up directly in stat sheets. They set picks. They hustle and grab lose balls. They box out, and sometimes that means someone else gets the rebounds. They "hold" all the other pieces together. 

They bring heart to a team. They have the fight.

Chandler has that in spades. You can't quantify that in anyway, but you can support it by looking at things like wins and on/off numbers. On 82games.com' Chandler's "simple ratings" number is the third best on the Mavs among players who played more than half the minutes. 

The only two ahead of him were Nowitzki and Jason Terry. 

Chandler was a huge part of the reason that Dallas took that last step, even if he wasn't the one getting the most attention in the postseason. He is the epitome of a glue man. If Cuban wants to get back there (which I have a strange feeling he does), he'll re-sign Chandler.