No Knicks for Paul, who decides to stay with Hornets
Chris Paul of the Hornets looks over the defense of the Washington Wizards. (March 31, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
Those Big Three plans in New York are going to have to be put on hold for a while.
Chris Paul, who reportedly has the Knicks on his wish list of destinations and talked of forming a Broadway Big Three with Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, met with the Hornets' hierarchy Monday morning and emerged with a prepared statement that said he is looking forward to remaining in the Big Easy.
"The meeting went well," Paul posted on his Twitter account. "It was great to get an opportunity to sit down with coach [Monty] Williams, [team] president [Hugh] Weber and our new general manager, Dell Demps. I expressed my desire to win and I like what they said about the direction that they want to take the team. I have been a Hornet my entire career and I hope to represent the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana for many years to come."
The statement, which went beyond Twitter's 140-character limit and thus spilled over into a website called "Twitlonger," followed a news conference by Demps, who said he expects Paul to play for the Hornets this season. The three-time All-Star point guard has two years left on his contract before he can become a free agent in 2012.
Last week CBSSports.com first reported that Paul planned to demand a trade and already had a list of preferred teams, which included the Knicks. But in yesterday's meeting, which took place in New Orleans, Demps said Paul, who was there with his new agent, Leon Rose, "did not request a trade."
The Hornets have made it clear they aren't listening to any offers for him. According to several sources with knowledge of the situation, Knicks president Donnie Walsh had made contact with former Hornets GM Jeff Bower regarding Paul and the two talked trade parameters. But Bower made it clear to Walsh that because of an ongoing ownership transfer between George Shinn and Gary Chouest, it was unlikely that Paul would be traded.
Walsh is one of several team executives who quickly reached out to Demps once he replaced Bower to reopen talks, but the message was the same: Paul is not available. At least not now.
But while the Hornets do have some time to persuade Paul to stay, the consensus is that he will reassess the situation before the February trade deadline and again next summer.
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