Hornets Looking For A Center

The Hornets are likely to add another player soon, according to Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune, and coach Monty Williams says the Hornets are looking for someone who can put in minutes at center now that backup Jason Smith is out for the season, tweets Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com. New Orleans has a 13-man roster, giving them two open spots and plenty of flexibility. Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out that the team made heavy use of 10-day contracts last year, so it seems they may go that route again unless there's someone they know they'd like to keep around for the rest of the season.

The Hornets have a pro-rated portion of their room exception available, worth about $1.787MM at this point, if they want to sign someone for more than the minimum salary. That could be an option if they go after someone bought out of his contract before tonight's 11pm deadline, but it seems more likely they'll use a 10-day deal on someone. Anthony Davis will miss tonight's game with a bone bruise in his left shoulder, leaving New Orleans with 11 healthy players, none of whom is a center, aside from Robin Lopez, as Eichenhofer notes (Twitter link).

Free agent centers with NBA experience include Luke Zeller, whom the Suns let go to make room for Marcus Morris at the trade deadline, Earl Barron, who was waived by the Wizards in December, and D.J. Mbenga, who last appeared in the NBA with the Hornets in 2010/11.

Among the prospects in the D-League are Henry Sims, notching 17.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for the Erie BayHawks, and Jerome Jordan, putting up 12.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG with the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

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