Mark Cuban gets his wishes of landing back Tyson Chandler, at a steep price.
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The New York Knicks have begun this summer’s free agency frenzy pulling off the first blockbuster trade. Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton have been traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, and Wayne Ellington. The Mavericks re-land their former defensive anchorman Chandler, who has been missed since leaving the team following their 2011 Championship victory over Miami.
He inked a four-year, $60 million deal with New York, but now gives Phil Jackson cap room flexibility to put more pieces around Carmelo Anthony, if he decides to return. Dallas became very vocal about reacquiring its former big following their 7-game series road loss to the current NBA Champion, San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks originally envisioned Chandler becoming the third piece to the Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire dynamic, but that trio was non-successful on the court together. Phil Jackson made it apparent Felton’s days in New York were numbered and got his wishes of landing a decent starting point guard in Jose Calderon.
"I heard it close to being done. It's very exciting. The big city. The Big Apple," – Samuel Dalembert on being dealt to the Knicks via Mavs.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 25, 2014
The team holds no first round picks, but they did also acquire the Mavericks’ 34th and 51st overall picks. Defensive swingman, Iman Shumpert has been linked in trade rumors and could be packaged with these two picks to move higher into the first round tomorrow night. Whether this move is intriguing for Melo to take New York serious remains to be seen, Phil “The Zen Master” Jackson is on the clock making moves for the next 24 hours.