"When the lockout ended and the Knicks began to see where they had to shore up their team, they had Tyson Chandler ranked atop their free-agent board. Not that it meant anything.

"We had him on our 'unobtainable list,' Mike D'Antoni said Saturday. "We didn't think we could get him."

Nobody did, as the Mavs were seen as the favorites to retain their 7-1 starting center from their championship team. But once it became apparent that Mavs owner Mark Cuban was looking to clear room for a run at Dwight Howard or Deron Williams this coming summer when they are free agents, if not before, the Knicks were able to land a player who had been interested in coming to the Garden for more than a year."