Tyson Chandler, like the rest of his team, is not thrilled with how this Knicks season has gone.
New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler has been understandably frustrated with how his 2013-2014 season has gone. About six weeks ago, he said the Knicks were "out-schemed" when the Brooklyn Nets blew them out. On Friday against the Golden State Warriors, in the middle of another drubbing, he ended up getting ejected. After Monday's 96-85 loss to the Detroit Pistons, New York's 10th defeat in its last 11 games, Chandler voiced his concern about the situation once again, via Marc Berman of the New York Post:
"For me it's important regardless [to finish out strong],'' Chandler said. "I got a lot more pride than this, coming in night in, night out losing, and not putting forth the type of effort it takes to win. At this stage of my career and what I've established, I refuse to let it put a blemish on it.''
Chandler, who will have a $14.6 million expiring contract next season, was asked about his Knicks future, and he did not answer the question with much certainty, via the Post:
"That's something I have to visit during the offseason,'' Chandler said. "We're all going to have a lot of decisions to make.''
Since the big man has a year remaining on his contract, his future is not totally in his hands. He's appeared to have taken a step back defensively this season, due to his health or age or, more likely, a combination of the two. Expiring contracts don't fetch the same return as they used to on the trade market, and New York will also have to resolve the Carmelo Anthony free agency situation at the same time as trying to figure out how to deal with the rest of the roster.
It's no surprise that Chandler was noncommittal, with the Knicks in the middle of a freefall. New York is 21-40 on the season, six-and-a-half games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Despite playing in the vastly inferior conference, the Knicks' record is worse than that of the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. It's a full-blown disaster, and nothing is set in stone after a year like this.