Stern, Knicks fans new BFFs?

The NBA -- "Where fiasco happens."

By vetoing Thursday's proposed three-team trade that would have sent All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, commissioner David Stern has opened the door for the New York Knicks, who didn't have enough pieces to trade for Paul, to sign him via free agency next year.

If Paul is eventually traded by the New Orleans Hornets, he doesn't have to agree to sign a long-term deal with the team that trades for him. He can play with that team this season, then walk. Suddenly, Stern has become the BFF of Knicks fans -- and the enemy of conspiracy theorists everywhere, who believe this is all being orchestrated for Paul to end up in New York.

The NBA's stance has been the source of ridicule, and rightly so. The league owns the Hornets, and general manager Dell Demps was told he had free rein to make moves to improve the team.

He appeared to have done that by shipping Paul to the Lakers for Lamar Odom, along with Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and a first-round draft pick from Houston. The Rockets would have received Pau Gasol.

It's understandable that by shipping Paul, New Orleans loses its franchise player and superstar. But Paul has made it clear he didn't want to remain there long term.

Unless the NBA reverses itself, the Hornets could conceivably wind up losing Paul and getting nothing in return.

How would that look to any prospective buyers of the team?

■ BAD LUCK BLAZERS -- The Portland Trail Blazers apparently are willing to roll the dice one more time with oft-injured center Greg Oden, having signed him to a one-year deal worth $8.9 million. But assuming Oden makes it back to the court, he won't have Brandon Roy to get him the ball.

Roy is retiring at age 27 because of degenerative knee problems. He was the 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year and was supposed to be one of the cornerstones, along with Oden, in the Blazers' resurgence.

Now, Roy is gone. And who knows what Oden, who has played a total of 82 games since Portland drafted him No. 1 overall in 2007, will give them.

■ TEBOW TATTOO -- Tebow-mania was taken to new depths this week when a Denver man walked into a tattoo parlor and 90 minutes later walked out with an image of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and a centaur on his arm.

The man came up with the design on his own. And when Tebow finally loses a game? Will the guy get it removed?

■ DUMB AND DUMBER -- Here's some advice for hunters who don't follow the law: Don't wear a hat that promotes breaking it.

During deer season last month, state conservation officer Jeremy Payne stopped a pickup truck with two hunters in central Michigan's Isabella County. They were from Maine, and one of the hunters was wearing a cap that said, "Registered Maine Poacher."

Payne checked their guns and paperwork and found that they were illegally hunting with Michigan resident licenses, a savings of more than $100 each.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL