We have needed a legitimate center for the longest time and having Tyson Chandler would fill a huge hole that we have needed for ages.
The quality of the average big man in the league has been steadily decreasing for the past ten years. It has been getting harder and harder to find a decent big man who can rebound and play defense. Tyson Chandler fills a HUGE hole - anybody who watched the Mavericks, myself included (I went to a game at American Airlines arena when I was traveling in Dallas), knows that Tyson Chandler was the reason the Mavs finally got their championship - he was THAT much better than Brendan Haywood.
I'm not sure whether or not the signing will work out in the long-term but I'm finally beginning to grasp why the Knicks would do something like this. A superstar player like Chris Paul is amazing to have, yes, but the Mavericks won with ONE superstar and a bunch of roleplayers because they had an elite big man who could shut down the drives to the basket and a bunch of roleplayers who did well.
If we picked up Chris Paul we would be an amazing team, no doubt about it. Probably win 65 games in the regular season. But we would still get ABUSED down low by any team with a PF who is even close to competent. If we play a lineup of Shumpert, Fields, Melo, Amar'e, and Chandler, we have good defense in the backcourt, OK defense on the wings (Melo is good when he actually tries), and one of the league's better defensive big men patrolling the paint, and that's something we haven't been able to say since the days of Patrick.