"The Knicks are planning to stage a press conference for 2 p.m. today to introduce new center Tyson Chandler and announce the deal is official.

The 7-1 Chandler will sign a four-year deal worth roughly $58 million and a source said it will go down as a sign-and-trade with Dallas. To make it happen, the Knicks engineered a secret plot that had them go under the salary cap as they are about to waive Chauncey Billups' $14.2M contract with the new amnesty clause in which the salary is paid but does not count against the cap. They also had to trade Ronny Turiaf's $4.2M contract to Washington, as first reported last night by The Post's website.

Then Chandler will be dealt in a sign-and-trade by having the Knicks give them second-year PG Andy Rautins, whom they will waive. The Knicks needed the extra space and will give Dallas a trade exception and maybe cash. Rautins is making about $600,000 in his last year."