Earl Monroe, who is friendly with Chris Paul and played at tiny Winston-Salem State, told The Post yesterday he believes Paul has eyes on the Knicks if he becomes a free agent in 2012, and thinks he would love playing for the orange and blue.

"I'm quite sure he would relish being in the Big Apple," said Monroe, who coached the New York City team vs. L.A. in yesterday's inaugural People's Games at Union Square. "He can handle this pressure. Obviously he's one of the premier point guards in the league. To add that with what you already have, you got the real nucleus to having something special happen closer than in four years."

Monroe used Paul's lone showing at the Garden in February as an example of CP3 responding to the scrutiny not found in the Big Easy. Paul played a dog game vs. the Knicks, which continued a mini-slump he was in. Suddenly, reports suggested Paul might have lost his elite status, with rumors about a bad knee circulating.

"Case in point, he had a terrible game here, I was there that night," Monroe said. "People started talking about it. The next few games, he put it up again. He knows what the deal is out here. When people started writing he might have lost it, he was like: Let me try to pick this up and let them know I'm still here."