NBA Rumors: Tyson Chandler's Comments Simply a Negotiating Tactic Against Mavs

Tyson Chandler may have skipped out on college, but that doesn't mean he isn't one smart dude.

Chandler is using the media to get some leverage in his contract negotiations with the Dallas Mavericks with statements like this to ESPN:

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I really think I’m going to be on a new team come training camp. I’m really taking a hard look at all of my options, trying to see what best suits me .

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What best suits Chandler is a fat contract. He wants to get the most amount of money as humanly possible and is using his leverage as a key cog on last year’s championship team to get it. Royce Young of CBS Sports Eye on Basketball blog talks about what his quote really means:

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But don't think just because Chandler says it's over, that it's over. This is all a negotiation, all part of the game. Chandler wants the most money he can possibly get and he's basically saying, "Hey Cuban, if you want to keep me, you'll have to pay up." Call it posturing, call it hardball, but Chandler is working to get everything he can. 

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You can’t blame the guy. After being the second overall pick in the 2001 draft straight out of high school, it took Chandler years to develop into the player he is today. After putting up 10 points on a 65 percent shooting clip in addition to 9.4 rebounds and a block in only 28 minutes in the regular season, while coming up huge in the postseason defensively, he deserves to cash in big.

The Mavs don’t have a ton of payroll flexibly, but they also have to realize the window on a potential championship is rapidly closing. Dirk Nowitzki is 33, Jason Kidd is 38, Jason Terry is 34 and Shawn Marion is 33. The core group likely has one last championship run in them and signing the 29-year old Chandler will set them up for another deep run this year, while having their key defensive cog around while the team gets younger in 2012-2013.

Read between the lines of Chandler’s statements and you realize that the negotiations between Chandler and the champs are far from over.