Making Progress in Baby Steps

Tyson Chandler needs to do more than get his feet wet. He needs to get them ugly, all mangled and gnarled.

The telltale sign of an NBA player is his feet. Usually, they’re hideous, a grotesque result of running and hard stops, quick cuts and landings from an elevation of three feet.

A month and a half into Chandler’s rookie season, he has developed black marks beneath the nails of his big toes. He also has a bruise beneath the arch of his left foot. But that’s it. The rest could qualify for a poster in a podiatrist’s office.

“I’ve got pretty feet, compared to a lot of my teammates,” Chandler said.

And that’s the problem. He needs to be on the court, abusing his feet, taking elbows, getting shorted by the officials. He needs full immersion in the NBA.

Instead he plays in limited doses, caught in a power struggle between Chicago Bull Coach Tim Floyd and General Manager Jerry Krause.

Krause sent power forward Elton Brand, who produced 20 points and 10 rebounds almost every game, to the Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Chandler and Brian Skinner on draft day. Combined with the selection of Eddy Curry, it represented a retreat to more rebuilding in the midst of the post-Michael Jordan reconstruction project.

Suddenly the Bulls were making two high school players the centerpieces of their team. The future got pushed a little farther into the future.

Except Floyd isn’t with the program. When he isn’t trying to get himself fired, he’s trying to prop up his pitiful 49-186 record by using the limited number of NBA-tested players at his disposal. In either case, he’s going against the desires of Krause, the fans and the media by keeping Chandler on the bench.

It amounts to only 3.6 points in 11 minutes a game.

He went from starring for one of the top teams in the country at Dominguez High to riding the bench for a team that’s 4-18.

“I just have to understand that my time is going to come,” Chandler said. “I have to continue to work hard, in practice, before practice and after practice.

“It’s just a learning process for me. I was used to being the star. It’s not like that anymore.

“It’s good for me to go through this, because it makes me want to work harder. It makes me more humble.”

Floyd said Chandler suffers because the Bulls are deep at power forward, with Charles Oakley and Marcus Fizer ahead of him. But he also questioned Chandler’s work habits early on, and told him so.

“We hope the biggest thing that comes out of this year is that he’s a harder playing guy at the end of the year than he was coming in, which all young guys have to go through,” Floyd said. “And I think he’s made great progress in that area.”

Chandler is trying to change. He spends extra time before the game working on his skills with assistant coach Bill Cartwright, who played center on the Bulls’ first three championship teams.

But it’s not the same as game experience. Part of it is Chandler’s need to define himself. He’s a 7-footer with the skills to play outside, but he said he prefers to play power forward and not have to chase small forwards around screens. He also needs to establish himself in the set offense, and not require fastbreak dunks to get his points.

Really, nothing has gone according to plan for the Bulls. They brought in Oakley and hoped for some veteran leadership. Instead Oakley candidly speaks his mind on the Bulls’ miserable plight, and he hasn’t exactly played tutor for Chandler.

“I’m not really trying to teach him,” Oakley said. “I’m just trying to be around, make sure things don’t go sideways. He’s just got to learn, watch film. He’s just got to learn.

“He’s got to learn his strengths, his weaknesses, what he can do on a regular basis, how he’s going to be over the years, how he’s going to reach the peak of being a great athlete. Having energy is good, but can you play sound, solid defense? Can you play off other guys on your team? That’s going to be a key for him.”

Oakley hasn’t completely abandoned the high school kids. He invited Chandler and Curry over to his house for Thanksgiving. And Oakley, who has evolved into one of the better-dressed players in the league, also hounded Chandler about his limited wardrobe. Chandler finally broke down and put in a call to Cary Mitchell, who designs suits for a number of NBA players.

If you want to make the situation look really ugly, compare Chandler’s numbers to Brand’s. Brand just keeps on chugging, averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds a game.

Chandler’s situation is so bad that even Brand feels for him. He definitely doesn’t gloat about the statistical discrepancy and, like so many others, touts Chandler’s potential.

“I’m not sure I’ll want to be compared to him in a few years,” Brand said. “I just feel bad for him when it comes to the not playing and especially the stuff about the losing, because I’ve been through it.”

Chandler doesn’t want to be linked to Brand for the rest of their careers. “I feel like I have a bright future in this city. I feel like he’s going to have a bright future wherever he goes. He’s going to continue putting up the numbers he’s been putting up.

“I hope the fans understand that along the line, along the future, I’m going to bring this team greatness.”

The Bulls’ fans might be the most understanding of all.

They cheered Chandler and yelled encouragement during a game against the New Jersey Nets, when he got a chance to show his skills in 14 minutes and had career highs of eight points and five rebounds, in addition to two blocked shots.

“You can’t expect too many fans who would accept trading Elton Brand, getting 20 and 10, for a high school rookie, to come in and try to learn,” Chandler said. “They’ve been behind us and they’ve been with us. I’m very grateful.”

They understand the situation. And that’s more than you can say about Floyd.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at : j.a.adande@latimes.com