Chaz Lanier’s first twelve games of the season were defined by a desperate, mostly fruitless fight to earn consistent rotation minutes. When thrown into the fire on 10/26 vs BOS, he looked entirely out of his depth. He missed both of his shots and posted an abysmal -12.0 impact score, dragged down by his complete inability to generate offense or grab a single rebound in five empty minutes. A brief window of opportunity opened on 11/11 vs WAS when he logged a season-high 26 minutes and scored 8 points. Yet, even in that extended run, erratic shot selection resulted in a -0.3 impact score as he bricked three of his five attempts from beyond the arc. He flashed slightly better playmaking on 11/15 vs PHI with four assists and four boards. However, his value remained stuck in the red with a -1.1 impact score because his persistent perimeter chucking—going 2-for-6 from deep without attempting a single two-pointer—continued to stall the second unit's offensive rhythm.

Chaz Lanier spent this entire stretch fighting a losing battle against irrelevance, logging brief, empty shifts at the end of the bench. His minutes were mostly an exercise in pure cardio, bottoming out entirely on 03/08 vs MIA. During that brutal eight-minute stint, he clanked all three of his field goal attempts and recorded zeroes across the rest of his box score, resulting in a dismal -13.4 Impact score. He occasionally found the bottom of the net, like when he poured in seven quick points on 3-of-4 shooting on 02/06 vs NYK to earn a rare +2.9 Impact. However, those fleeting offensive bursts were the exception to a grim rule. Take his 01/25 vs SAC appearance, where he managed two points and two rebounds in five minutes, yet still posted a staggering -11.2 Impact because he offered absolutely zero playmaking and bled value on the defensive end. If Lanier wants to crack a real NBA rotation, he has to find ways to actually affect the game instead of just taking up space.