Chris Paul’s agent reportedly told the New Orleans Hornets his client wants to be traded to the New York Knicks. But a trade to the Knicks is not at all definite. (Yahoo! Sports)

Chris Paul’s agent informed New Orleans officials on Wednesday that his client will not sign a contract extension and wants to be traded to the New York Knicks, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. …

Nevertheless, the prospects of the Hornets executing a trade with the Knicks appear to be relatively dim. The Knicks simply don’t have the trade assets that come close to meeting New Orleans’ criteria for a deal. Demps has been listening to overtures from teams around the league, and has been actively working under the assumption that Paul would reject a contract extension.

The Hornets have no intention of letting Paul walk away at season’s end without trying to get maximum value for him. There are several teams, including the Boston Celtics, that could be willing to make a deal for Paul with the hope of convincing him to eventually sign an extension.

The Celtics should not — and probably would not — actually trade for Paul before he agrees to sign an extension, unless Danny Ainge has the utmost belief in his own persuasive powers. Yes, adding Paul would give Boston a better chance to win in 2011-12 (assuming he stays healthy). But trading Rondo (and his contract that runs through 2014) for a one-year rental of Paul seems unhealthy for Boston’s future, and would not at all guarantee a championship next season.

P.S. — Glad the new collective bargaining really figured out how to keep stars on the same team. It’s a huge relief that the two months the league lost to make system changes actually meant so much to the NBA’s future. Sigh.

P.P.S. — From Sam Amick:

“Sources who recently talked to NY & NO were left with 2 strong impressions: Knicks have almost no confidence they’ll get CP3 via trade, and the Hornets sound resigned to the fact that they will have to trade him somewhere.”