Hornets247.com

Perhaps nobody informed Chris Paul, but his recent rumblings about wanting to win do nothing but hinder the Hornets, his Hornets, ability to build a contender around him. He claims that his number one goal is to win a title in New Orleans, but the recent leaks from his camp leave the Hornets in a position in which they are unable to build around Paul in fear of losing everything.

The Hornets best chance to substantially improve their roster this year, trading Darren Collison to shore up a weaker position, turned to dust, at least temporarilly, at the global realization that Chris Paul is truly intent on leaving New Orleans. An example of a trade like this is the Granger deal talked about weeks ago. Although that trade was fabricated out of thin air, the reality remains that a highly beneficial trade is possible, but only if Paul is committed for the long term.

On a team with tons of expiring contracts and only one true non-essential player with high trade value it seemed a forgone conclusion that if the season was going well, a deal sending Collison out of town would be announced before the trade deadline. That was how the Hornets would be able to add talented players this season in spite of their salary obligations. That was how they would position themselves as a premier destination for players in the summer of 2011. All in all, that was how they could become a contender in the short term with Chris Paul.

Continue reading »

With all the free agent signings going on around the league, Hornets fans feel a little left out. Considering the team went 37-45 last year and Chris Paul wants to win right away, the team needs to make big moves right away, right? Wrong.

People seem to be forgetting that the Hornets are going to be a pretty damn good team this year without doing much of anything this summer. Don't forget, after Byron Scott was fired the Hornets went 18-10 in the 28 games in which Chris Paul was healthy.

Let's briefly look what the problems were last year and what can be done to remedy them. Some of the problems just went away by themselves.

• Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison were stuck on the bench for much of the season. Given that the two of the team's top five players weren't seeing much time in favor of Devin Brown, one can assume that they actually would have been even better had the rookies been given more time to shine early in the seaseon. It wasn't until March that Thornton surpassed 30 minutes per game despite his excellent season. That won't be the case this year and for good reason.

Continue reading »

The following update came from the Hornets last night:

Hornets guard Chris Paul, who has been out the past five weeks due to left knee surgery, was medically cleared to begin running at half speed yesterday.

Hornets forward James Posey missed last night's game against Denver with flu-like symptoms. He did not travel with the team to Phoenix and is out for tomorrow's game. He is questionable for Monday's game against the Clippers.

Hornets center Sean Marks will undergo right shoulder surgery on Tuesday morning and will be out the remainder of the season.

Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic, who has missed the past two games with a lower abdominal strain, will remain out for a minimum of the next 10 days.

As Niall noted below, yesterday Julian Wright vented some of the frustration he must have been feeling all season via Twitter.

He then, unsurprisingly, spent the next 9 hours or so defending the series of tweets as various followers jumped on him.  He ended with this statement:

Ok, I apologize for venting and making anybody uncomfortable. I just worked hard these past two summers so that's what I'll do this summer!

The thing is . . . he's right.  Julian's primary talents are his rebounding, on the ball defense, and ability to finish (not handle) in transition.  For a brief time this season, when he was able to play with fast-break focused teammates like Darren Collison, Marcus Thornton, and Songaila he looked very good.   That second unit was something I looked forward to every game.

Unfortunately, with all the injuries and roster turnover, he's once again stuck on a  unit with no one to handle the ball and no fleet-footed wingman to fill the opposite lane on the fast break.   That leaves him trapped in half-court offense, where he is forced to rely on his shaky handle, jumper and baseline cuts that are easily prevented by an alert defender.  Square peg.  Round hole.

Continue reading »

A few posts from Julian Wright on Twitter yesterday:

Off to practice, thinking bout how I'm jealous of all these players that managed to get traded before Thursday... #

Just saying, might need a change of scenery, of course I love New Orleans! Bought a house here. #

Not bout blaming anyone. Just thinkin bout the C. Fryes, S. Browns, and the G. Wallaces, of the league who just needed a change of scenery. #

The trade deadline is tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 p.m. Central. Julian is on the books for $2 million this season, $2.86 million next season, and has a $3.9 million qualifying offer for 2011-12.