Carmelo realistic about getting Paul
Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks speaks to the media during training camp at Madison Square Garden training center. (Dec. 9, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Carmelo Anthony used the NBA's own marketing slogan to describe the drama that surrounded his good friend, Chris Paul, after the league on Thursday night rejected a three-team trade that would have sent Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers.
I think the NBA picked the right saying: 'Where Amazing Happens,' '' Anthony said.
Paul still is expected to be traded by the league-run New Orleans Hornets and still could wind up with the Lakers. Anthony said he did have hopes that Paul might join him in New York and added that the two often joked about it.
"But I really didn't see how that was going to happen,'' Anthony said, "unless I got traded or Amar'e [Stoudemire] got traded. I really didn't see that happening.''
Stoudemire said he did hear the ESPN report that said the Knicks offered him to the Hornets for Paul and were turned down, but he said Mike D'Antoni told him, "There's no way that's happening.''
"I knew it wasn't true,'' Stoudemire said, "so it really didn't affect me at all.''
Bid farewell to Billups
Before Anthony spoke about the addition of center Tyson Chandler, he was quick to address the departure of veteran point guard Chauncey Billups, his teammate for the past three seasons with the Nuggets and Knicks. Billups, who is 35 and in the final year of his contract, will be waived by the Knicks as part of the amnesty provision to create salary-cap space to sign Chandler.
"It's a tough situation for a guy that I've been around for the past couple of years,'' Anthony said. "Just knowing the conversations that we had and the excitement that we all had coming back this season, having training camp, it's an unfortunate situation.''
Knicks fix
The Knicks might lose unrestricted free agent Shawne Williams, who last spring vowed to return but is mulling a few multiyear offers from other teams. The Knicks are offering only a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum . . . As expected, veteran Grant Hill, whom the Knicks targeted, re-signed with the Suns for $6.5 million. When Hill was asked how close he was to joining the Knicks, he said, "If there was a pecking order, they weren't at the top.''
