Wilson Chandler of the New York Knicks is being compared to Shawn Marion by new Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni in a roundabout way.

“The guy that jumps out is Shawn Marion, he’s what we’d like him to be” D’Antoni said.

D’Antoni feels that Chandler has the athletic ability to play a similar role to what Shawn Marion played in the Phoenix Suns lineup.  Obviously Chandler won’t put up the same numbers that Marion was able to put up but can be seen as a poor man’s version of Marion and have some serious fantasy value.  He isn’t opening the season as a starter as Quentin Richardson is penciled in as the starting SF, and Richardson is no stranger to a fast paced D’Antoni run team.  In the ‘04-’05, Richardson flourished while playing his lone season in Phoenix.  However, there are plenty of minutes to go around in a D’Antoni system.  Chandler has been showing off his athleticism all preseason with per game averages of 12.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.2 SPG and 1.2 BPG.  He is definitely worth rostering in 12 team leagues on sleeper potential alone.  You can expect him to carry over his preseason averages into the regular season with the possibility of adding to them as the season and his knowledge of the new system progresses.