At February’s trade deadline, the Knicks were made aware the Nuggets were shopping shooting guard Arron Afflalo, and his first preference was being dealt to New York. The Knicks staged talks with the Nuggets but didn’t have the assets to get a deal done for Afflalo, who had a player option for 2015. When Afflalo was dealt to the Trail Blazers on Feb. 19 for a lottery-protected first-round pick and Thomas Robinson, he was disappointed. Afflalo, who had two stints with the Nuggets and one with Orlando, opted out of his contract in late June and got a second chance at landing in New York on July 1. “We told Denver the Knicks were where he wanted to be,’’ his L.A.-based agent Sam Goldfeder told The Post at the Las Vegas summer league Sunday. “Portland was never mentioned.’’ After one meeting with the Knicks on July 2, Afflalo said at Friday’s news conference he canceled the other two he had arranged, accepting the Knicks’ two-year, $16 million package. For two years, Afflalo, raised in Compton, Calif., and schooled at UCLA, has had a hankering to play in New York. “This is the happiest I’ve seen him as a professional,’’ Goldfeder said. “It’s like he was drafted again. This is where he wanted to be and feels the stars aligned for him. It’s the first time he got to choose, and that was meaningful to him. The electricity he found in the Garden was like no other place, and he wanted that environment. He’s looking to have the best season of his career.’’ - See more at: http://nypost.com/2015/07/12/for-years-arron-afflalo-dreamed-of-playing-for-the-knicks/
