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Penny Hardaway and his agent, LaPoe Smith, met with Knicks president Isiah Thomas yesterday morning, and according to Penny there were no voices raised and no objects being thrown around the room.

"Everything's smooth," Hardaway said, downplaying reports that he had demanded a trade earlier this season. Since then, Hardaway was banished to Memphis to heal a balky hamstring that's kept him out of 24 of the last 26 games this season, including two separate trips to the injured list.

"There's no problem with me and Isiah at all," Hardaway said.

Penny returned to practice with the team yesterday for the first time since the first week of January and proclaimed his hamstring "feels awesome," as is his relationship with Thomas.

"I never had a conversation with anybody, let alone Isiah, about getting traded at all," Hardaway said, admitting he wasn't getting as many minutes as he'd like when he was in uniform. "The biggest thing was, when I was on the floor, I couldn't produce . . . so Isiah gave me some time to go home and get my hamstring right."

With the Knicks' season in utter chaos, Hardaway said he plans on being here at the end of the season.

"I'm a Knick," he said. "I know I'm going to be here. I'm not going anywhere."

Coach Herb Williams said Hardaway looked good yesterday and will play him off the bench tonight against Cleveland at the Garden.