The ball is in Tyson Chandler’s court.

With NBA free agents allowed to officially sign contracts on Friday, Chandler has a deal from the Warriors in front of him worth more than $60 million over four years, according to two league sources.

The Warriors have made Chandler Priority No. 1 this offseason, and they hope to get an answer from Chandler on Day 1 of free agency. The hope is by Friday the Warriors will know if they have a defensive anchor at center or whether they’ll have to go in another direction.

In order to sign Chandler -- assuming he agrees -- the Warriors will likely have to amnesty center Andris Biedrins, still owed $27 million over three years.

Chandler is considered one of the best big men in this year’s free agent class -- along with Nene and Marc Gasol. But among those three, Chandler is by far the best defender -- important to the Warriors because they want to place more of an emphasis on that end of the court under new coach Mark Jackson.

Chandler helped the Dallas Mavericks secure their first-ever NBA championship in 2011, and the door hasn’t been closed on a return there, according to a source. However, Chandler indicated more than week ago he believed his days in Dallas were over.

There are also rumblings that the New York Knicks are very much in the mix for Chandler, although it might take them using amnesty on Chauncey Billups to get him.

Chandler averaged 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game last season. However, Chandler missed significant portions of each of the previous two seasons with injury.

A message was left with Chandler's agent, Jeff Schwartz, for comment, but he has not returned calls.

If the Warriors were to sign Chandler, he would no doubt upgrade their interior defense, a woeful shortcoming of the team last season. Chandler is considered one of the best in the league at protecting the rim – a needed asset because the Warriors’ perimeter players often struggle keeping the opposition out of the lane.

Read more: Chandler has offer from Warriors
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Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/warriors-talk/post/Chandler-has-offer-from-Warriors-?blockID=608184&feedID=2539

No way they offer this guy that much money without trading for Chris Paul.

I have been watching him from Chicaco, New Orleans. He full developed his killed and confidence next to Cp3, I was very surprised when they traded him for Ok4 at center. His last year with Cp3, they seemed like lost a connection with each other. That was one Cp3's greatest years as a scorer and he took a lot more shots, not using his picks and allowing him to do the alley oop they did their first 2 years.

crzymdups wrote:I see the Mavericks matching 4yrs $60M in a heartbeat for Chandler. Rumor was he was asking for 4yrs starting at $20M per year. so at least $80M over 4yrs is what he wants.

That's a lot of luxury tax to pay. They are in the $70 mill range already. With FA's

Butler
Barea
Peja

Chandler

Terry (next year or the following)

crzymdups wrote:I see the Mavericks matching 4yrs $60M in a heartbeat for Chandler. Rumor was he was asking for 4yrs starting at $20M per year. so at least $80M over 4yrs is what he wants.

Mavericks want cap space summer 2012.

Bonn1997 wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I see the Mavericks matching 4yrs $60M in a heartbeat for Chandler. Rumor was he was asking for 4yrs starting at $20M per year. so at least $80M over 4yrs is what he wants.

Is he a restricted FA? That could change everything.

no. he's UFA.

shizzee wrote:realgm.com say the Chandlee to Knicks deal is almost complete