ESPN’s Chris Broussard on Colin Cowherd’s radio show Monday morning: “I think they’re going to get Chris Paul. I think there’s a great chance he ends up in New York … If they don’t get Chris Paul for some reason, Dwight Howard is a possibility, Deron Williams is a possibility … the Knicks should end up getting one of those three players, and I think it’ll be Chris Paul.”

ESPN’s John Hollinger Monday night: “It appears the only realistic way that Paul can end up in Gotham would be if he is willing to take a massive pay cut. He would likely make about 60 percent as much in New York as he could make in New Orleans and, even in the best-case scenario, forego tens of millions of dollars compared to playing in other markets … So if Paul really wants to go to New York, he can go — as long as he’s willing to give up, at a minimum, forty million dollars to do it. (The same, incidentally, applies for Deron Williams or Dwight Howard.)

This little nugget from Hollinger will anger Knicks’ fans, but it’s exactly why I wasn’t thrilled when they gave up so much for Carmelo Anthony in February:

This is why I argued the Knicks overpaid in the Anthony trade with Denver rather than being patient and signing him outright over the summer — they have no assets left to make a deal for Paul, and yet from a financial standpoint, trading for Paul is the most realistic route to bringing him on board.

So which one of these guys a) Doesn’t understand the new CBA, b) knows something the rest of us don’t? As Andy Glockner notes, this smells like LeBron 2.0. He’s going to come to New York! Why? It’s New York!

November 29th baseless, don’t-ask-me-why-or-how predictions that, I can assure you, will change by 99.9 percent next week, and then by another 99 percent in January:
- Chris Paul to the Lakers
- Dwight Howard to the Lakers
- Deron Williams to the Heat

* Note: While I love Dwight Howard immensely, it makes zero sense to have a Anthony/Amare/Howard frontline. The Knicks need a point guard.