Can Chandler help Knicks reach new heights?

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The Knicks were back on the basketball court -- at least the few Knicks there are right now. Only seven players scattered around the two-court gym at MSG Training Center Friday afternoon for the team's first official practice of the season after the NBA lockout. But in due time, the group will expand . . . and get taller.

Tyson Chandler will join the Knicks once the space is cleared to fit him under the $58.044-million salary cap.

The Knicks informed guard Chauncey Billups that he will be waived under the NBA's one-time amnesty rule to clear his $14.2-million salary off the cap, and an NBA source said the Knicks will trade center Ronny Turiaf to the Wizards to clear his $4.35-million salary, which will get them enough under the cap to sign Chandler.

The 7-1 Chandler confirmed his commitment to the Knicks on a four-year, $58-million contract Friday. "It just really happened over the last, like, 48 hours,'' Chandler -- a member of the 2010-11 NBA champion Mavericks -- said in a radio interview in Dallas. "I just think the future of the team, being able to play alongside Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony and the young talent that we have, I feel like it puts us in contention over the next four or five years.''

Adding Chandler will give the Knicks one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourt trios. Stoudemire was so happy, he had temporary amnesia. "It's going to be phenomenal,'' he said. "I've never played with a natural center in my career.'' He clearly forgot he once had a Suns teammate named Shaquille O'Neal.

Mike D'Antoni, who had Stoudemire and an aging Shaq with the Suns in 2007-08, sees Chandler as a critical piece that will make the Knicks better, especially on defense. "It brings everything we didn't have,'' he said. "It will shore up our defense, our rebounding. He's a great teammate; the intangibles are off the charts. He's always been the guy that's kind of the glue. That's what we needed and hopefully that's what we get.''

What the Knicks lost is a starting-quality point guard, and they have few options to bring one in. D'Antoni suggested that Toney Douglas can handle the role, with rookie Iman Shumpert as the backup, but the Knicks are looking for help, with free agent Mike Bibby a potential target.

Bibby, a D'Antoni favorite who finished last season with the Heat, might not make a decision until after the weekend, a source close to Bibby told Newsday.

D'Antoni said that despite the presence of a traditional point guard, the Knicks' offense could follow the same strategy as the Celtics teams from the 1980s. The coach envisions the offense going through Anthony the way it did Larry Bird.

D'Antoni went as far as to say, "Melo's one of the best passers we have, and he'll be involved a lot more running the team.''

Shumpert and second-round pick Josh Harrellson are expected to sign their rookie contracts once the Chandler deal is completed. The same goes for Jared Jeffries, who already agreed to sign a one-year veteran's-minimum deal.

Once all of the dominoes fall, the Knicks will have 11 players signed and in practice. That still leaves them two spots shy of the league's roster minimum of 13, with 2010 second-round pick Jerome Jordan, a 7-foot center, awaiting word of a training-camp invite.

D'Antoni once again is dealing with changing on the fly. But after years of roster-shaking trades to get under the cap, the team now is making additions. "Shaking it up and getting worse, that wasn't good,'' he said, "but now this is exciting.''

The Dolan family owns

controlling interests in the Knicks, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.