Vince Carter has been rumored to be heading anywhere from Orlando to Charlotte to even right across the river. But after scoring 26 points in a win over the Kings on Friday,

Carter revealed for the first time - at least publicly - what his true feelings may be. Though he has the ability to opt out of the final year of his contract once the season is over, Carter made it known that he'd like to stay with the Nets.

Speaking on the YES Network postgame show, Carter was told that team president Rod Thorn had earlier said, "We'd obviously like to sign him."

Carter responded by saying, "Hey, that sounds good to me. We're going to try to work it out. Hopefully I can be a Net for years to come."

Only a few days ago, it seemed the Nets were prepared to trade Carter. There has been much speculation that he'd like to play for Orlando, just over an hour away from his hometown of Daytona Beach. But the chances of that happening seem slim now that Magic general manager Otis Smith has bashed Carter's game, telling a Florida paper that he was reluctant to trade 21-year-old Darko Milicic for the 30-year-old Carter.

"I'm not going to take a step back and fall for what I call fool's gold," Smith said. "It shines and it glitters, but it just doesn't stick or pass the test."

Grant Hill sounds like he has no plans to retire following this season.

"Yeah, I think so. I've got a lot of basketball left in me," he said. "I think I will, but I'm not 'Jimmy The Greek' or anything.

"Really, I can't even think beyond next week. As a family we're kind of day-to-day and week-to-week. I'm just trying to get my knee right these last 28 games and get this team into the postseason. That's where all of my focus and energy has been lately."

The Orlando Magic rejected a potential trade earlier in the week to acquire Vince Carter because they were unwilling to bundle a package of players that included Darko Milicic, Trevor Ariza and Hedo Turkoglu.

The Nets wanted all three in return for Carter, who is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.

"Yes, I talked to Rod [Thorn, Nets general manager] about that [Vince Carter trade],'' Magic General Manager Otis Smith said Thursday. "I won't get into the particulars, but the price was too steep.''

A source in the Eastern Conference with knowledge of the talks between the two teams, confirmed that the Nets were asking for Milicic, Ariza and Turkoglu.

According to Chad Ford, the Raptors are reportedly trying to acquire Darko Milicic from the Orlando Magic.

Milicic will be a free agent this summer, but Otis Smith has been reluctant to part with the former second overall choice.

Orlando's Darko Milicic, who played his first two NBA seasons under Larry Brown in Detroit, blames the former Knick coach for stalling his development and hamstringing his career.

"I thought he did. I was supposed to get a chance in Detroit, but I didn't," Milicic, the 7-foot center who came to Orlando along with Carlos Arroyo in a trade last February, said last night. "He was supposed to give me a chance to see what I could do, but he didn't. All I was expecting was a chance if nothing else, but it didn't happen and now I'm here and I'm happy."

Otis Smith, GM of the Orlando Magic, said he has had no discussions with the New Jersey Nets about acquiring Vince Carter before Thursday's trade deadline. "Nope, haven't had any [talks with Nets]. I like our team. I like what we have," Smith said.

Smith didn't rule out having a "busy" summer, however.

The Western Conference set All-Star records with 69 field goals and 52 assists on its way to an emphatic 153-132 win over the East stars at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant racked up 31 points, five rebounds, six assists and six steals to take home MVP honors. Amare Stoudemire added 29 points and nine boards and Carmelo Anthony had 20 and nine for the West.

2006 All-Star MVP LeBron James led the Eastern Conference with 28 points, six rebounds and six assists and Dwight Howard tallied 20 points and 12 boards.

Gerald Green of the Boston Celtics easily won over the five-man judges' panel of Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter ? particularly when Nate Robinson missed nine straight times on his final dunk before finally landing a one-handed spin move.

Green and Robinson eliminated Orlando's Dwight Howard and Chicago's Tyrus Thomas in the first round, even though the 6-foot-11 Howard came up with the most original move. Howard leaped high, slapping a sticker of himself on the backboard before throwing down the dunk.  The move, however, did not impress the judges, who gave Howard a 42, which was the lowest score of all 2nd dunk attempts in the first round.

Green's most impressive dunk was a morph of two previous Dunk Competition renditions, tearing away his number 5 green Celtics jersey to reveal a throwback Dee Brown Celtics jersey, and then jumping over a stationary Nate Robinson while doing the 'cover your eyes with your forearm' dunk which won Brown the competition back in 1991.

Vince Carter was a hot topic of discussion yesterday as Nets president Rod Thorn continued his efforts to move his All-Star guard by Thursday's trading deadline.

The Nets aren't interested in continuing to pay Carter "max money," and they know he'll be looking to move on to Orlando this summer when he can opt out of his contract. By trading him by the deadline, they can dictate where he goes.

"Rod's trying everything he can to trade Carter," said one team executive who talked to Thorn. "He'd rather trade Vince than Jason (Kidd). They still look at Kidd as the face of the franchise."

The Clippers, who have had talks before with the Nets about Carter, are still a possibility. All teams other than Orlando risk having Carter walk after the season, unless there's some sort of wink-wink deal reached before this summer.

But to get Thorn to revamp his team, with the Atlantic Division by no means locked up by the Toronto Raptors, he is not going to jump at any offer. Even with Carter's days with the team apparently dwindling, the Nets are going to hold out for a package that will include any combination of the following: a young promising player, players with expiring contracts and a future No. 1 draft pick.

Shaquille O'Neal will step aside for Dwight Howard after all in Sunday's All-Star Game.

"He's played a lot more than me and he deserves it."

However, Shaq will get into the game for a few minutes before giving way to Howard.

East Coach Eddie Jordan said it will depend "on how much Shaq wants to play. We'll focus on him offensively the fist few plays. We got some young guys then, Dwight Howard, Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh who can play center."

O'Neal was voted to start the game at center for the East team despite playing in only a handful of games this season.