Report: Chris Paul wants trade, Knicks top list

Star point guard Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets is asking the team to trade him prior to the start of the season. The Hornets, who finished 37-45 this season, have only finished above .500 twice and made the playoffs twice with Paul. Paul, 25, is ready to end the losing and has demanded to be traded by giving the Hornets a list of teams he would like to be traded to.

The 4th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft by New Orleans, Paul has been one of the premier players in the NBA. A three-time All-Star, Paul scores an average of 19.3 points per game, including an 18.7 PPG average this season. During the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, Paul scored an average of 21.1 and 22.8 PPG, respectively, before the drawback this season.

Among Paul's trade list are the New York Knicks, who rank first on his list, followed by the Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trailblazers in the top four. Paul, who has made it no secret that he wants to play with Amare Stoudemire in New York, is ready for a chance to win. The plan is that the Denver Nuggets' SF Carmelo Anthony will reject a contract to return to Denver next free agency period and join Stoudemire and Paul in New York to form the next "Big Three" that would challenge the Big Three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

ESPN reports that, "Those guys want to beat the three guys in Miami," a source close to the situation said. A report Wednesday on CBSSports.com said Paul saw what James did in signing to play alongside Wade and Bosh and has designs on doing something similar."

Also, they report that, "the Hornets have scheduled a face-to-face sitdown with Paul for Monday in New Orleans, sources with knowledge of the meeting told ESPN.com's Marc Stein" and that "Paul's demands come in the immediate aftermath of a Hornets overhaul within the coaching staff and front office."

This is going to be a very interesting week and will make for the one of the greatest off-seasons ever if "CP3," as his Twitter name suggests, is traded to the Knicks. New York sports radio has been talking about the subject all day and many Knick fans are excited at the possibility of having their own Big Three.

Welcome to Miami, LeBron James (and the events that followed)

Tonight, the sports world turned.

LeBron James, Cleveland's golden boy, is no more.

The NBA's best player is taking his talent to South Beach, Florida to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and form the dynasty that will become the Miami Heat.

The only thing good that came out of this? No more talk of speculation on where James will play.

The bad thing that came out of this? A good, unselfish, young man from Cleveland has turned into an egotistical, selfish, narcissistic nightmare.

James, who was born in Akron, Ohio began his seven-year career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown team. The first overall pick by Cleveland in the 2003 draft, for seven years, James carried the Cavs, making them a better team each year. They made the playoffs multiple times, but failed to capitalize by not supporting James with a good sidekick player. We can look way back into NBA history and see that having a sidekick player and a great player can build a championship: Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippin, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you get the point.

But LeBron didn't get that teammate, and because of that, and the feeling that the Cavs weren't committed to winning, he's gone.

We saw this day coming.

The Summer of LeBron is over, once and for all.

Right after Bosh and Wade decided to join forces in Miami, everyone knew it: here comes LeBron.

So no, it's not the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks, the New Jersey Nets, the Los Angeles Clippers, or even the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's the Miami Heat for LeBron James and his giant ego.

"I can't say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible," James said on a made-for-LeBron live show on ESPN. "But the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done, to free up cap space and be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down. Those are two great players, two of the greatest players that we have in this game today."

"Winning is a huge thing for me."

"We are thrilled that LeBron James and Chris Bosh have decided to come to Miami to join forces with our truly great player, Dwyane Wade," Riley said in a statement. "We are looking forward to the opportunity of building something that our fans in Miami will be proud of for a long, long time. The journey is just beginning."

"They can have mixed emotions, of course," James said, adding that Akron will "always be home for me.

I'm not angry at the Heat for this. You can't even argue that they will be one of, if not the, best team in the NBA. But I'm not angry at LeBron James either. I'm angry at what he has become.

He did what was best for him, and that's what counts. He wants to win, and the Cavs weren't committed to winning at all. Now he gets to suit up with two of the NBA's best players and knows that he has a chance to win. So honestly, good for him and good for the Miami Heat.

Who am I angry at?

The Cleveland Cavaliers.

How could this organization and its' fans all of a sudden turn their back on LeBron James? He never promised anything. He never promised he'd stay in Cleveland for good. He MADE the Cavs. He made that team good, and got people in Cleveland to care about basketball. Now, he has to deal with this bullshit (language, I know) statement from his old owner, (click here) and now Cavs fans are burning, that's right, burning his jersey. What does that say about the fans in Cleveland? They're going to forget about James all together and everything that he did for that team? If it wasn't for LeBron James, no one would care about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So Cleveland, lay off of LeBron James.

Am I happy he went to Miami? Hell to the no. But I'm happy that he made the right decision for himself if he really wants to win. I wanted to him to either go to the Knicks or stay in Cleveland, but I don't care too much about basketball so it really didn't sting me that bad. Regardless, the Cavs fans showed absolute selfishness with the way that they acted following James' decision.

As for Mr. James, I am only angry for one reason: the monster he has become. Was it necessary to put his decision on national television? Absolutely not. He could have been like any other athlete and just announced it. Instead, he had to fill up his ego.

You want to know what I'm even more curious about? Will LeBron James realize that the Miami Heat are still Dwyane Wade's team? LeBron cannot come into Miami thinking that this is his team or he will suffer from the A-Rod effect. Dwyane Wade, like Derek Jeter with the Yankees, helped win the Heat a championship. He made the team a good team and carried them to the playoffs last year. LeBron needs to realize that this is Wade's team and that HE is the Captain and that Heat fans are always going to like Wade more, as Yankees fans feel for Jeter, than they do for James, as Yankees fans for A-Rod.

Key of advice for the King: Don't overdue yourself.

You know what? I'm done writing about LeBron James because everything I say will have or probably has, already been said. I'm happy he's doing what's best for him and that's that.

But to the city of Cleveland, shame on you for all of a sudden turning on your idol and what he did for your city.

If you want to read more into it, click here. ESPN's got the whole thing covered. Or just check any sports' site, it's bound to be there.

I'm tired of this.

I wish LeBron James nothing but the best of luck.

I'll close saying this: the Miami Heat will NOT win the NBA Finals next season.

I'll sum up briefly what's followed the LeBron James signing:

Michael Beasely was traded from the Heat to the Minnesota Timberwolves to clear up salary cap space for a second round draft pick in 2011.

The Knicks and Golden State Warriors agreed on a sign-and-trade that sent former Knick David Lee to the Warriors where Lee has agreed to a sign-and-trade worth $80 million dollars over six year. In return the Knicks get Anthony Randolph, who they've coveted for the past year, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azbuike.

That's it, no more LeBron talk. Forever.

LeBron wants to win a championship, simple as that. You can't fault him for wanting to build a legacy.