By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks have agreed in principle to a huge deal. The Knicks are sending Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Mavericks.
In exchange, the Knicks received Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, the 34th and 51st pick of the 2014 draft.
Chandler returns to the Mavericks, where he had his best season. He also helped the Mavericks to the 2011 NBA Finals over the Miami Heat.
He also gives the Mavs a reliable center, and will have little room to sign players after they sign Dirk Nowitzki to a new contract.
Chandler has one-year worth $14.6 million left on his contract. The Knicks also have been in pursuit of additional draft picks.
This is Phil Jackson’s first major move since being named Knicks President of Basketball Operations. He reportedly believes that Calderon is a good fit to run the triangle, like Derek Fisher, the new Knicks head coach, did when he was a player under Jackson.
Fisher is expected to run the triangle in New York. The offense that has helped Jackson win 11 championships with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Last season was the first season with the Mavericks for Calderon, Ellington, Larkin, and Dalembert. Calderon averaged 11.4 points with 2.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 81 games.
Ellington averaged 3.2 points per game with 1 rebound in 45 games. Larkin averaged 2.8 points and 0.9 rebounds in his rookie season.
Dalembert, who has been a journey since he left the Philadelphia 76ers after the 2009-10 season, averaged 6.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in 80 games.
Chandler has spent the past three seasons with the Knicks. He averaged 11.3 points and 9.9 rebounds in 62 games in 2011-12, then had 10.4 points and 10.7 in 66 games during the 2012-13 season.
This past season, he averaged 8.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in 55 games.
Felton came to the Knicks from a trade with the Portland TrailBlazers in the summer of 2012. He averaged 13.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 2012-13.
This season, he averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 65 games. He was also arrested in February for domestic violence on his wife, which caused him to miss some time.
