On December 10, 2011, Chandler was acquired by the New York Knicks via sign-and-trade as part of a three-team trade, joining the Knicks on a reported four-year, $58 million contract. With Chandler anchoring the middle, New York's defense improved markedly in 2011–12. After finishing 22nd in defensive efficiency in 2010–11, the Knicks finished fifth in defensive efficiency in 2011–12. Chandler finished the season with a league-leading 67.9 field-goal percentage, the third highest in league history at the time behind only Wilt Chamberlain with 72.7 in 1972–73 and 68.3 in 1966–67. In May 2012, he was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors. He became the first player in franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year, and joined Alvin Robertson (1986) and Dikembe Mutombo (1995) as defensive players of the year on the Second All-Defensive Team. Due to a different voting system for All-Defensive, Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka was the forward on the first team, while Orlando's Dwight Howard was the center. Additionally, Chandler was named to the All-NBA Third Team.