Tyson Chandler to the Knicks: New York Needs a Center, but Is Grossly Overpaying

The New York Knicks will finally get a much needed center with the arrival of Tyson Chandler.

According to Alan Hahn of Newsday, the Knicks will sign Chandler to a four-year, $58 million deal to make him the new starting center in between Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.

Although specifics of the deal have not yet been released, it's expected that both PG Chauncey Billups and PF Ronny Turiaf will be involved in a sign-and-trade scenario in order to make it come to fruition.

While Billups is reportedly "irate" about the possibility of leaving New York, Turiaf's name has been dangled in trade talks previously, and it wouldn't be surprising whatsoever to see him shipped to a new club.

For the Knicks, this is all about Chandler. A defensive-minded center has been an area of need for the better part of a decade, but he comes at an astronomical price following his championship season in Dallas.

The market for Chandler was going to be large considering the lack of attractive free agents in this class, but he's now set the market for big men to get ridiculously overpaid by a number of interested clubs.

Prior to Chandler playing in 74 regular season games for Dallas last season, he was on the court for just 51 games in 2009-10 and 45 contests during the 2008-09 season.

Before last season, the last time the veteran center averaged double-digit scoring was in 2007-08 (the only two times in his career), and Chandler hasn't pulled down more than 10 rebounds per game since that same season.

Chandler is a prime example of a player using a successful season as a springboard to an unbelievably ridiculous pay day.

It wasn't long ago that Chandler was viewed as an injury-prone center (he has never played in a full slate of regular season games), and the reason he was so valuable to the Mavericks was because he played a distinct role in the team's approach.

He'll certainly fit the New York roster looking to improve on the defensive side and provides the team with a real center and a force beneath the basket, but the ludicrous cost will almost certainly come back to burn the team for the long haul.

Stoudemire and Anthony's contracts rise in annual value every year, and the addition of Chandler will leave the Knicks dedicating most of the salary under the soft cap to those three players.

In other words, by the 2013-14 season, those three players will combine to collect nearly $60 million.

That's a lot of cash to dedicate to just three player and still without a long-term answer at the point guard position.

There's no question that the primary area of focus should have been the center position for the Knicks, but that's an awfully steep price to pay both now and for the future in order to sign a player who is far from a slam dunk to live up to his contract.

Chandler wasn't even the best option on the free agent market, but the Knicks sure paid him like he was.

It better be worth it, otherwise the roof atop Madison Square Garden could blow right off.