The New York Knicks had interest in Dion Waiters in free agency but he ultimately decided to re-sign with the Miami Heat. Waiters signed a four-year, $52 million deal to stay with the Heat. 

Waiters met with Steve Mills during the offseason.

"They were talking, they were trying,’’ Waiters told The Post. "My agent was talking to them more than I was."

The Knicks eventually moved on to sign Tim Hardaway Jr.

"It was close to home and it’s New York, too," Waiters said. “It wouldn’t have been bad. It’s New York, the Garden. I went to Syracuse, man. So it’s like cool."

The Memphis Grizzlies have no plans to trade Marc Gasol or Mike Conley.

"We have no intention to trade Marc," Chris Wallace told ESPN. "We never seriously considered that at all. We never placed any calls to any teams in that regard. So that's not happening.

"It's not just Marc that this whole equation is about. It's also Mike Conley, when he comes back. We've got two guys among the elite in the league at their respective positions that are still very much in their window with an awful lot of tread left on their tires."

The Grizzlies have been on a losing streak and fired David Fizdale this week.

Wallace remains optimistic that the Grizzlies can compete for a playoff berth this season.

"We're full speed ahead," Wallace said. "We've been in the playoffs seven years in a row. We've got a team when fully healthy and we get everything together is more athletic, more versatile and more potent offensively than we've had for a number of years. Even though the going has been a little difficult early, there's still 62 [games] to play. We believe in this team. We're hoping -- got our fingers crossed -- that we'll get everybody healthy soon.

"Our expectation always is to be a playoff team and have a chance to do some things when we get in there. We're behind in the standings right now, but it's a long way to go. When we get our guys back, I think we'll surge."

Chris Bosh plans on staying around the game and hasn't officially ruled out attempting to resume his playing career.

"I'm always going to be around the game of basketball," Bosh said. "I plan to keep my options open as a player moving forward, but that's not coaching. Maybe front office work, working with teams and spreading the game, maybe teaching the game to young people, that's something that's a very big passion."

Bosh said he would like to develop players that aren't obvious stars.

"I would want to work with guys that maybe aren't starters, guys that are the fourth or fifth option," Bosh said. "To be honest, I'm looking at today’s game and I put myself in that position and how I would benefit from the faster basketball, more threes, catch-and-go opportunities, attacking the paint with more space, that's what kind of gets me juiced up and riled up when I watch today's game. I would really want to teach someone how to function without having to have plays called for you."

Nikola Mirotic addressed the media as he nears return from injuries sustained from his in-practice fight with Bobby Portis.

Mirotic said he accepts the apology of Portis. Mirotic had previously requested the Bulls either trade him or Portis.

"I've been playing this game nine years professionally," said Mirotic. "I was always a good teammate, always professional with everybody. I'm going to continue to do that. If I'm here, it's because I want to support the team. He's a part of the team. I'm going to support him too"

While Mirotic is ready to move on, he isn't completely forgetting about the incident.

“I just know that right now the only goal – Bulls goal and my goal – is to make me get back with the team and practice together and get my strength back and as soon as I can, play with the team,’’ Mirotic said.

Dwyane Wade was recruited by LeBron James to join him with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he's not sure if it was a move unanimously desired by the franchise.

The addition of Wade initially moved J.R. Smith to a reserve role.

“He wanted me here. I know that for a fact. I don’t know if the feeling was mutual all the way around. But I knew that somebody that I’ve won championships with before, someone I’m very good friends with, someone who I respected and loved to be with, loved to play with, wanted me to be here. I definitely took every team and every situation into consideration. Ultimately, I felt this would be the best for me,” Wade told Yahoo Sports.

Executives around the NBA believe the Philadelphia 76ers will attempt to sign LeBron James in free agency.

James is widely expected to become a free agent in 2018 though his eventual destination remains a speculative mystery. While James has also been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers, signing with the 76ers would give James the opportunity to stay in the Eestern Conference and avoid teams like the Warriors, Rockets and Spurs.

The 76ers could fairly easily create enough salary cap space to sign James to a max contract starting at $34 million.

The 76ers would give James the opportunity to play with a talented young roster anchored by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

James and Simmons share an agent in Rich Paul.

“The organization has done a great job believing in Brett Brown’s system, believing in what he wanted to do and they gave him time,” James said before the Cavaliers beat the Sixers 113-91 on Monday.

Marc Gasol insisted that he didn't speak out against David Fizdale to management to demand his firing as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Gasol was benched for the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies' loss on Sunday to the Nets and Fizdale was fired the next day. Gasol and Fizdale had a strained working relationship.

“No,” Gasol said. “Not at all.”

Fizdale was in his second season as head coach of Memphis.

“Nobody likes to see a coaching change during the season,” Gasol said. “I was a little bit shocked by it.”

Gasol said he only spoke with Robert Pera after the decision had been made.

“I found out (about the Fizdale firing) from Robert,” Gasol said. “They called me after the decision was made to let me know the direction they were going.

“Nobody likes to be in the situation we’re in. And we were not finding a way to win collectively. We were breaking apart. Me and David didn’t see everything eye-to-eye all the time. But we both had the same intentions of making the team a collective, really strong unit. We couldn’t find a way to do that.”

The Memphis Grizzlies have not yet shopped Marc Gasol and have rebuffed inquiries from rival teams.

Gasol can become a free agent in 2019 and the Grizzlies appear to be on the verge of a rebuild. Memphis re-signed Gasol and Mike Conley to five-year deals in subsequent offseasons as they attempted to remain a playoff contender while also adding Chandler Parsons on a four-year deal.

The Grizzlies fired David Fizdale this week as they attempt to salvage their season following an extended slump.

Derrick Favors hoped to sign a contract extension with the Utah Jazz heading into last season. Talks between the two sides never became serious as Utah was focused on re-signing Gordon Hayward and possibly extending George Hill.

Hill eventually declined Utah's extension offer and signed for less money with the Kings after they traded for Ricky Rubio.

"They wanted to re-sign Gordon, maybe extend George Hill," Favors says. "And I got hurt. I understand the business part of it. If they had come to me, I'd have been open to it."

Favors is in the final season of his contract and the Jazz appear to be pivoting away from him following the emergence of Rudy Gobert.

The Jazz could conceivably trade Favors though his market is expected to be limited.

The Utah Jazz have no plans to bottom out and rebuild following the departure of Gordon Hayward.

Utah still has Rudy Gobert anchoring their team, which practically guarantees them of having a top defense.

"Our hope is our players grow into larger roles, and we continue a path which best serves the Jazz," Dennis Lindsey said. "And that path is to draft and develop."

The only time the Jazz have really tanked was in 13-14 following the departures of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. Utah selected Dante Exum in that year's draft.