Carmelo Anthony Wants Chris Paul in New York


Everyone in New York wants Chris Paul to don a Knick uniform (and the feeling may be mutual). Carmelo Anthony is just the latest to confirm it. Per the NY Post: “The tampering gag order is not in effect during the lockout. So Anthony freely admitted yesterday how delighted he would be if Hornets point guard Chris Paul bolted the Big Easy for the Big Apple. Anthony has spent a lot of this summer hanging with Paul and even playing on his team during barnstorming exhibitions. ‘If it works out and he comes here and they allow him to come here, you’ll see a smile from ear to ear,’ Anthony said during an appearance in Greenwich Village. ‘It’s not just me. It’s everybody [in New York]. If he decides to leave New Orleans and goes somewhere else, they’ll be feeling the same way I’m feeling.’ Paul can be a free agent in 2012, and the Knicks could have enough cap room to sign him, pending the new salary-cap figure. Notice Anthony’s phrase if ‘they allow him to come here.’ Anthony traveled to China with Paul and was on his team in Miami for the South Florida Classic two weeks ago and in Winston-Salem, N.C., earlier this month when Paul staged an exhibition in his hometown. If the lockout drags on, they are expected to be teammates around Thanksgiving when Anthony stages a New York area all-star exhibition, possibly at the Meadowlands. ‘It’s fun,’ Anthony said of playing with Paul. ‘He’s such a competitor, even in games we play now. He wants the games to be NBA games — the intensity level. He wants everybody to go out and compete. It’s something I’ve really enjoyed.’ Anthony admits he has grown closer to Paul this summer, as well as with Miami’s star duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. ‘It’s been great, man,’ Anthony said. ‘This summer — more than any — the time we’ve spent together and not just with Chris. LeBron, Dwyane. Us four, it’s the first time we actually worked out together. This summer brought us closer together than in the past.’”