Hornets247.com

Hey everyone. Joe Gerrity here. Niall and Ryan have asked me to come aboard and contribute more regularly, so here I am. Hope you enjoy the stuff. I’ll be doing some recaps and previews too.

Also, I’m in the New Orleans area and will definitely be at the next Hornets watch party, so hopefully I’ll see you all there.

This season, the major storyline for the New Orleans Hornets has revolved around shedding salary. It’s no secret the Hornets are a small market team and have to keep payroll below the luxury tax line, unless they are contending.

A few years back, when the Hornets were thought to be among the favorites out west, Shinn opened up his wallet and brought in James Posey, accepting the reality that his franchise would likely be over the luxury tax line for years to come because of it. That was fine for him, as long as they were contending.

Continue reading »

It's pretty clear that the Hornets aren't going very far this season.  It's just as clear that the Hornets need to clear out some of the dead weight they have at the wing positions.  Now, I'm not one of those people howling to "blow it up now".  The Hornets are already out of the running for a top 4 pick in the draft (required for quick rebuilding) and unless a pretty special offer comes up between now and the deadline, it is usually better to wait until the off-season to make trades, so the new team can come in and gel in training camp.  However, there is still the fact that the Hornets need to drop another half-million in salary to be able to get under the Luxury Tax Line and qualify for a $4.5 million payout by the league at the end of the season.  Most have assumed that the Hornets will simply pay some team under the Tax line to take a minimum contract like Bobby Brown, Devin Brown or Ike Diogu and call it a day. 

Personally, I'd like to see something less now-focused, and more future-focused.  The Hornets need two things: capable wing players with ball-handling talent, and a young big who could turn into something.  Trading for those sorts of assets, however, aren't really possible without the Hornets giving up 1st round picks or players like West or Okafor - or Thornton/Collison.  Unless, however, the Hornets were willing to take on a little risk at the same time. 

If that's the case, the Golden State Warriors may present a few options.  They are desperate for bodies at the moment, and dealing with more injuries than is reasonable.(They actually dressed 8 players and had 4 players foul out the other night, which invoked a rule I never heard of - the last player to foul out remains on the floor, but every foul he commits gives the other team free throws AND a technical free throw.)  Now, the Hornets aren't going to land any of their big guns like Ellis, Curry or Randolph.  Not without giving up something important.  They could, however, target two of their injured players - players who duplicate skills already available to the Warriors - and offer up two  players that could provide the Warriors with something they need.

I'm thinking James Posey(plus Bobby Brown for salary purposes) for Kelenna Azubuike and Brandan Wright.

Continue reading »

From the Twitter account of Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:

The Hornets have agreed to trade Hilton Armstrong to the Kings, an Eastern Conference exec with knowledge of deal says.

More details will be posted here as we hear them.

12:10 p.m. UPDATE:

More from Wojnarowski on Twitter:

The Hornets have traded forward Hilton Armstrong and cash to Sacramento for a future conditional second rounder, sources tell Y! Sports...

Obviously, the move is a salary dump on Armstrong's $2.8 million salary. This gets Hornets within $500K of luxury tax threshold.

The Minnesota Timberwolves website had an press release up briefly stating they had just traded PG Jason Hart to the Hornets for Devin Brown.  Hart has played in only one game for the Wolves this season, and played only 29 last year for the Nuggets and Clippers.

The two players have the same salary, so the only reason this trade makes sense is if it's part of something else the Hornets are trying to get done - or if Jason Hart has an unguaranteed contract that can be voided, allowing the Hornets to get closer to the Luxury Tax line.  I'd probably suspect the latter.(Update: Jason Hart's contract is non-guaranteed, allowing the Hornets to cut him and get $1 million closer to the Luxury Tax Line, leaving the Hornets 3-4 million to go - otherwise known as the salary of Hilton Armstrong.)

Devin has been playing alright, but this doesn't upset me.  He has no business as a starting shooting guard in the league.  Of course, that leaves the Hornets with an interesting situation if it goes through.  Who does start at shooting guard?

Marcus Thornton?(please?)  Peja Stojakovic with Posey or Wright at the 3?  Collison and Paul as the starting backcourt?  *gulp* Bobby Brown?

Hat tip to Ball Don't Lie for the news.  We'll keep you posted on what happens next.

Update from Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's twitter account:

Kahn says Hart-Brown deal is neither snagged or dead, says more than 1 way to do it, other teams involved.

Update II: Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune

Though a report on Yahoo.com indicated the New Orleans Hornets had traded guard Devin Brown to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a source close to the Hornets said Tuesday afternoon no deal had been made or would be . . .

. . [Brown] attended the Hornets' shoot-around Tuesday here at the Toyota Center and is expected to play against the Houston Rockets tonight.

Update III:  Jason Hart was traded to Phoenix today for an expiring player, cash, and a 2010 draft pick. The Hornets had only offered the first two, and clearly were not willing to up the ante.

Allen Iverson has walked away from Memphis in a huff, making him a free agent once again. Some folks in the comments here and on other sites have been wondering if the former league MVP would be a good fit in New Orleans. Let's see...

The case for Allen Iverson

Iverson didn't enjoy his time in Memphis because the Grizzlies wouldn't give him a starting job, but the Hornets would have no trouble accommodating him there. After all, the shooting guard position has been a huge headache for New Orleans this season.

Morris Peterson was the starter for the first six games, but failed miserably at both ends of the floor and found himself relegated to the inactive list. Devin Brown has been the starting 2-guard since, and while he has fared better than expected, he has no business averaging more than five or six minutes per game in the NBA.

Then there's the rookie Marcus Thornton, who has repeatedly shown flashes of brilliance and will likely earn the starting job soon if the roster stays as is. However, Thornton was a second-round draft pick, so best not set your expectations too high for him.

So, the Hornets could offer Iverson a starting job, and he'd be happy. He could take all those shots that Devin Brown and Marcus Thornton had been taking. He would demand a lot of defensive attention, thereby opening up the lane for West and Okafor to go to work. After a few weeks, Chris Paul would return from injury and find relief not having to carry so much of the scoring load. The Hornets would get hot and make the playoffs despite their poor start to the season. New Orleans Arena would be full to the rafters as CP3 and the Answer put a scare into some contenders in the West.

And then you'd wake up...

Continue reading »