Carmelo sets example for Paul and Howard

ORLANDO, Fla. - Carmelo Anthony already is old news. Now it's on to the next star, the next year, the next target and the next rumor.

The Knicks aren't done building, and they do plan to have salary-cap space in 2012 to go after yet another star. Will it be Chris Paul, whom the Knicks will see tomorrow night when they host the New Orleans Hornets at the Garden?

But wait. Mike D'Antoni said at practice here Monday that 34-year-old point guard Chauncey Billups isn't done. "He's got four or five more good years left in him," D'Antoni said.

If that's the case, perhaps the target should be a player the Knicks will see Tuesday night when they play the Magic: All-Star center Dwight Howard.

Imagine a front line of Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Howard. But snap back to reality; as hard as it would be to match up against them, it would be even tougher to carry three max contracts of that magnitude, considering the potential restraints in the next collective-bargaining agreement.

It worked in Miami because LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh took slightly less than the max to allow them to fit together and have room to assemble a supporting cast. Stoudemire and Anthony already have taken full max salaries.

But Anthony's maneuver - basically forcing a trade to the team he wanted to go to - could motivate stars such as Howard and Paul to take more control of their destiny with the passive-aggressive approach to free agency.

If they don't sign extensions with their teams before the 2012 trade deadline, it is likely both will be on the trading block. And if there is a preferred destination, they can wield the leverage of the contract extension, as Anthony did.

"I can't tell nobody what to do,'' he said. "I'm just saying if you're going to make a decision, then make it earlier rather than late."

Anthony seems to wear a perpetual smile these days, which provides all the evidence players such as Paul and Howard (and even Deron Williams, unless he signs an extension with the Nets) have to consider when they think about the future.

"It's still surreal to me to wake up in the morning and see the New York Knicks uniform or my bag hanging on the door and see the blue and orange," Anthony said. "It hasn't sunk in yet, but at the same time, once I'm on the court, I know who I'm playing for."

And he knows how he got there.

Azubuike waived.The Knicks announced that guard Kelenna Azubuike has been waived. He was inactive all season as he attempted to come back from a devastating knee injury suffered in November 2009. He had been practicing during the last two months and hoped to make a case for a rotation spot late in the season, but his athleticism was just not enough to be effective. The open roster spot will be filled Tuesday when the team signs Jared Jeffries after he officially clears waivers. Jeffries, a former Knick, is expected to join the team in Orlando and could be available for Tuesday night's game against the Magic . . . The team also is expected to complete a buyout with forward Corey Brewer Tuesday, which would open another roster spot. Brewer, who was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the blockbuster three-team trade that brought Anthony and Billups to the Knicks, was caught in a numbers game on a roster loaded with wing players.

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