Tyson Chandler: ‘I can be better’ than in Mavericks’ title run
By Mike Dyce
The Dallas Mavericks lone NBA Championship came with Tyson Chandler serving as their emotional leader in the locker room. Looking to land a “big fish” free agent in the offseason and return to their winning ways, the Mavericks pulled off a trade with the New York Knicks to bring Chandler back to town.
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In a lot of ways, the move has improved the Mavericks odds of landing one of those “big fish” free agents. As for helping the Mavericks win more games and make a deeper playoff run, Chandler says he can be better than he was during the 2011 NBA title run.
“Absolutely, I think I can be better,” Chandler said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I finished the season healthy. I was already looking forward to this summer because I felt like there were so many things I could improve on. Then once I started in the gym, I’ve already seen in the six weeks or two months I’ve been working out so much improvement already that I’m truly excited.
“When this happened and I know I’m putting myself in a situation again to really have a shot at making a run, it just gives me more to work on and more excitement and more drive.”
That is good news for the Mavericks, they’ve struggled to find a decent replacement for Chandler ever since he turned down their large single-season contract for a long term deal with the Knicks. Chandler can also help the Mavericks out by doing some recruiting of his former Knicks teammate Carmelo Anthony as well.