CHARLOTTE – Duke point guard Jason Williams had kept his draft desires quiet until now.
In an exclusive interview with The Post, Williams let out his secret wish – he hopes the Knicks obtain a high draft pick in the lottery and bring him aboard.
“I’ve wanted to play for the Knicks my whole life,” Williams told The Post. “That would be a great opportunity.
“I grew up in New Jersey but I consider New York my home, too. I’ve played a lot of basketball there. I’ve always been a Knicks fan even though I lived in Jersey.”
Williams, who will attend Duke’s graduation ceremony Sunday, is from Plainfield. In high school he played AAU ball in Manhattan for a team called the Madison Square Bears.
A lot has to happen for the Knicks to get Williams, who is expected to go either first, second or third. The lottery is nine days away and the Knicks have a 15 percent chance of landing in the top three.
From all indications, 7-5 Chinese center Yao Ming would be the Knicks’ top choice and they might try to trade up to No. 1 to get him. But if they can’t get Ming and are sitting at 2 or 3, it will be tough to pass up a lightning-quick point guard.
“They have a lot of good guards there, but I’d hope they would be able to use somebody like me,” Williams said. “But who’s to say they want me even if they had the first pick? They could want Yao. I’m just curious to see how everything works out.”
The Knicks are looking for size – and Knick players have advocated using their lottery pick to add a big man. But Don Chaney wants to add more athletic players, and Williams has the quickness at the point the team so desperately lacks.
In a draft severely lacking in big men, an athletic point guard such as Williams or Memphis’ Dajuan Wagner could be the way to go. The Knicks might be able to address their size needs with a mid-level exception free agent signing.
The question about Williams is whether he’s a point or shooting guard. It’s the same silly knock that hit Allen Iverson.
“A lot of people are getting confused,” said Williams, who will graduate Sunday in three years with a sociology degree.
“I’m definitely a point guard,” said Williams. “We had Chris Duhon who’s a point and I was asked to play 2-guard.”
The 6-2 Williams also has heard he’s not big enough to defend bigger guards.
“Look at Isiah Thomas,” Williams said. “Did he have the size? There’s been a lot of players much smaller than me who’ve gotten it done. There’s always going to be, he can’t do this, can’t do that.”
On May 19, Williams will watch the proceedings from his Jersey home with friends, hoping the Knicks get a top-3 pick