Not that this should make any Knicks fan exhale, but it turns out that Chris Paul may have never asked to be traded (Sporting News). According to his new head coach, Monty Williams, he said, "For me, it was never an issue. Chris never said anything about a trade." With Paul remaining a Hornet, it should give Amare Stoudemire less hope of playing for a New York superteam. But at least Stoudemire, who was scrimmaging today against Suns' players, can cherish "Big 3" memories from the spring of 2002, when he was named to the All-USA high school boys basketball first team (USA Today). Who filled out some of the other spots? Try LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Even Raymond Felton was part of the squad. While Amare and Raymond come from different personalities -- Amare, the "fun" type; Raymond, the "quiet" one -- hopefully they can make some collective noise on the court this season. Kind of like how Knicks newbie Timofey Mozgov did against Ivory Coast at the FIBA World Championship, breaking out with 19 points. But as a previous post alluded to, he still has to work on cleaning up the boards, along with the rest of the team (Newsday).

Jared Zwerling is a senior researcher for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to ESPN RISE. You can follow him on Twitter: @jaredzwerling