NBA Rumors: Signing Tyson Chandler Won't Be Enough to Vault Knicks Past Heat

For much of the past week, all of the talk surrounding the New York Knicks has been that they were in hot pursuit of New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Now, the Knicks are reportedly close to signing center Tyson Chandler in a move that won't bring enough improvement.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein is reporting that the former Dallas Maverick is very likely to sign with the Knicks, and that one source told him that it is "98 percent sure" Chandler will wind up in New York. This move will certainly help the Knicks, but not enough to enter the Eastern Conference's upper echelon where the Miami Heat reside.

What signing Chandler will do is give the Knicks a true center with defensive capability. Chandler averaged 9.4 rebounds per game last season, as well as over a block, while chipping in just over 10 points per contest.

Chandler's presence will prevent the Knicks from getting pushed around by strong interior players, and it will also allow for some semblance of a half-court offense, although it is tough to imagine head coach Mike D'Antoni deviating two much from his up-tempo system.

In order to make the move, the Knicks will likely have to use the amnesty clause on forward Ronny Turiaf and find a suitor for point guard Chauncey Billups' expiring $14 million contract. While that won't matter in the long run, it will leave the Knicks without a reliable point man in the interim.

That job would likely go to Toney Douglas, and although Douglas is capable of being spectacular at times, he isn't a traditional ball distributor, he plays essentially no defense and he is far too unreliable to be counted upon on a consistent basis.

Signing Chandler would also take the Knicks out of the running when it comes to signing Paul in the offseason, as they won't have nearly enough money in reserve. Stein speculated that the Knicks could deal forward Amare Stoudemire to New Orleans for Paul, but that would be incredibly disrespectful to Stoudemire as he chose to sign with the Knicks.

Ultimately, if the Knicks were to reach the level of the Heat or even the Chicago Bulls, I believe they needed to bring in either an elite point guard or an elite center to complement Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.

Paul is most definitely an elite point guard, but Chandler isn't an elite center. In terms of being a defender, Chandler is as good as they come, but he is inconsistent when it comes to providing an all-round, complete effort on both ends of the floor.

The Knicks will be better if the Chandler signing comes to fruition, and they will almost certainly establish themselves as a top-four team in the Eastern Conference, but it will leave them without a solid point guard, and that could become a major issue.

While Miami may seem to be LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Chris Bosh and nothing else, the Heat play great team defense and will remain a cut above the Knicks. Chandler will give New York a new dimension, but one player won't significantly alter the team's defensive shortcomings, and his acquisition would create holes elsewhere.