New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Re-Sign Lester Hudson

April 9th, 2012 at 12:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs have signed guard Lester Hudson to another 10-day contract, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Hudson's first 10-day deal expired last night.

Hudson has averaged 12.7 PPG, 3.8 APG and 3.5 RPG in 23.8 minutes a night during his six-game stint with the Cavs. He scored 23 points Friday against the Raptors and 26 on Sunday versus the Nets. Earlier I speculated that the Hornets, in need of a point guard, might try to grab him, but this move blocks them from doing so, at least for the time being.

Hornets Looking To Quickly Sign Point Guard

April 9th, 2012 at 11:29am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hornets want to find a backup point guard who'll be ready to play in the team's game scheduled for 7:00pm Central Time tonight against the Lakers, reports Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com. The team announced earlier today that starter Jarrett Jack will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. Greivis Vasquez is the only other point guard on the roster, and coach Monty Williams suggested the team may have to go with point guard by committee at times tonight.

Lester Hudson, who's scored 23 and 26 points in his last two games with the Cavs, is a free agent after his 10-day contract with the Cavs expired last night, so the Hornets could look to sign him if Cleveland doesn't beat them to it. Another option could be Jeremy Wise, who led the D-League in assists this year and was in training camp with the Heat.

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Southwest Notes: Jack, Arenas, Diaw, Jackson

April 9th, 2012 at 10:49am CST by Chuck Myron

The most pressing news out of the Southwest Division is Lamar Odom's departure from the Mavs, but there are a few more items of note as the Spurs, with an eight and a half game lead over the Grizzlies, close in on the title:

Jarrett Jack's season is over with a stress fracture in his right foot, the team confirms on its website. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports originally reported the news via Twitter. The Hornets guard enters the final season of a four-year, $20MM contract next year, when he's scheduled to make $5.4MM. The team currently has 14 players on its roster, so they wouldn't have to let anyone go to bring in an extra point guard for the season's final weeks.
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal looks at how recent Grizzlies signee Gilbert Arenas has reinvented himself to fit in with the team.
Boris Diaw, who signed with the Spurs after the Bobcats bought him out, got his first start with San Antonio on Sunday in the team's win over Utah as coach Gregg Popovich continues to tinker with the lineup, notes Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News. Stephen Jackson, acquired at the trade deadline, did not play.

Southwest Rumors: Lowry, Ayon, Duncan, Cuban

April 5th, 2012 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, the Rockets signed Earl Boykins to a second 10-day contract, and saw Kyle Lowry return to practice in hopes of playing again this season. What else is going on in the Southwest Division? Let's check out a few links….

The Hornets are expected to retain Gustavo Ayon for 2012/13, reports USA Today's J. Michael Falgoust. Ayon will have two more seasons ($1.5MM) left on his three-year deal at season's end, but neither is guaranteed yet. You can find our full list of 2012/13 non-guaranteed contracts here.
Spurs veteran Tim Duncan doesn't have a contract for next year, guaranteed or otherwise, but he's not thinking about his future until after the season, as he tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has a number of ideas about how the NBA draft and eligibility rules should be changed, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Cuban would like to see players not become draft-eligible until three years after they've graduated high school, and would like to expand the draft from two rounds to four.

Southwest Notes: Belinelli, Boykins, Hornets

April 4th, 2012 at 6:56pm CST by Daniel Seco

Home to both the Western Conference's second-best record (Spurs) and worst record (Hornets), here's the latest news from the Southwest Division.

In an interview with Sportal.it, Hornets shooting guard Marco Belinelli stated his desire to finish his career in the NBA rather than return to Europe to play in Italy, reports Sportando's Emiliano Carchia. While the Hornets have struggled since trading Chris Paul to the Clippers in December for a package headlined by Eric Gordon, Belinelli has flourished this season thanks to his ability to stay healthy. The former first-round pick has seen his minutes increase to over 30 per game leading to a scoring average of 11.8 PPG.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle says the Rockets are expected to re-sign Earl Boykins on Thursday to either another 10-day contract or for the remainder of the season (via Twitter). Feigen tweets the Rockets will presumably sign him for the rest of the season with a non-guaranteed contract for next year, which may not be of interest to a veteran like Boykins. The former Eastern Michigan guard, 35, is averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.0 APG in five games with the Rockets.
David Stern says the Hornets are in serious negotiations with three different ownership groups and hope to soon have a future TV deal in place as well, tweets Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Teams Signing The Most 10-Day Contracts

April 3rd, 2012 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams have different motives for bringing players in on 10-day contracts. In the case of a lottery-bound team with little to play for in the immediate future, signing a player to a 10-day deal allows for an affordable, first-hand look at a young player to determine whether or not he might be a long-term asset (think Gerald Green with the Nets). For a contender, a 10-day deal allows a team to bring in a veteran to temporarily provide bench help in case of injuries or questionable depth (ie. Mike James and the Bulls).

As our 10-day contract tracker shows, however, some teams like taking advantage of these deals more than others. While a number of clubs have yet to sign a single player to a 10-day deals, a handful have brought in multiple players on temporary contracts, renewing some and letting others expire. Here's a quick look at which teams have taken advantage of the 10-day contracts the most this season, handing them out to multiple players:

Cavaliers:
Manny Harris (two 10-day contracts followed by rest-of-season contract)
Lester Hudson
Ben Uzoh

Hornets:
Jeff Foote
Solomon Jones (two 10-day contracts)
Donald Sloan (two 10-day contracts)
Lance Thomas (two 10-day contracts followed by rest-of-season contract)

Nets:
Andre Emmett
Gerald Green (two 10-day contracts followed by rest-of-season contract)
Dennis Horner
Jerry Smith

Raptors:
Alan Anderson
Ben Uzoh

Rockets:
Earl Boykins
Courtney Fortson (10-day contract followed by rest-of-season contract)
Malcolm Thomas

Spurs:
Eric Dawson (two 10-day contracts)
Justin Dentmon

Warriors:
Keith Benson
Mickell Gladness (10-day contract followed by rest-of-season contract)

Wizards:
Cartier Martin
Edwin Ubiles

Odds & Ends: Lin, Rockets, Camby, Hornets

March 31st, 2012 at 10:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bulls and Thunder square off tomorrow afternoon, but Chicago will likely be without the services of Derrick Rose for a tenth straight game. The Bulls could certainly use the help of the reigning MVP but they've found a way to win without him, going 14-5 without Rose in the lineup this season. Here's a look around the Association to close out the evening..

Jeremy Lin's season is likely over but the popular guard says that he hopes to remain with the Knicks in 2012/13, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
The acquisitions of Marcus Camby and Earl Boykins have given the Rockets some badly needed veteran leadership, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Excluding players now with the club's D-League affiliate, the Rockets have 4.69 years of NBA experience, taking them from one of the least to most experienced teams.
Cartier Martin is already making a strong impression on the Wizards and is making a case for staying with the club beyond his current ten-day contract, writes Gene Wang of the Washington Post.
Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer remembers the phone call that made the Hornets organization a reality 25 years ago.

Southwest Notes: Johnson, Gordon, Hornets, Ford

March 31st, 2012 at 5:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Jarrett Jack gave the Hornets 18 points and ten dimes this afternoon but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Lakers 88-85. Here's more out of the Southwest division..

The last 15 games of the season will determine whether the Hornets re-sign center Chris Johnson in the offseason, team officials tell John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Coach Monty Williams said he's still trying to figure out what the 6'11", 210-pound journeyman from LSU can do.
The Hornets expect shooting guard Eric Gordon to return from right-knee surgery Wednesday against the Nuggets, writes Reid. Earlier this week, Luke Adams pegged Gordon as the prize of the restricted free agent market in his look at this summer's available shooting guards.
Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star checks in with former Spurs guard T.J. Ford, who's now a volunteer assistant with the Austin Toros after bringing his playing career to an end earlier this season. "I'm healthy, that's the whole purpose of me retiring," he said. "There really wasn't much else I could prove with my circumstances. I became more a role player coming off the bench. I'd rather now move on to the next phase in my life."

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Links: Boykins, Thomas, Hornets, Mavs

March 30th, 2012 at 7:18pm CST by Alex Lee

With the Mavericks in action in Orlando and the Rockets hosting the Grizzlies, here is a look at some links from the Southwest division:

Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News provides some interesting Spurs tidbits centering on how the international play of Patrick Mills and Boris Diaw helped to lead the two recent additions to San Antonio.
NBA sources have told Fox 26 in Houston that the Rockets are likely to retain guard Earl Boykins and forward Malcolm Thomas after their 10-day contracts expire, tweets Mark Berman. Boykins signed his contract on March 26 and Thomas signed his on March 27.
Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated thoroughly examines the state of the Hornets franchise, which is expected to be sold by the NBA in the coming weeks in a deal that will keep the team in New Orleans until at least 2024. Thomsen says the Hornets are headed towards profitability and he also delves into the vetoed Chris Paul trade.
Jason Terry's comments aside, there was some other news after the Mavericks Thursday night loss in Miami. ESPN Dallas' Tim MacMahon writes that Lamar Odom has shown signs of effectiveness lately for Dallas. With Delonte West back in the lineup, the duo could provide a much needed boost down the stretch.

Southwest Notes: Lee, Hornets, Odom

March 28th, 2012 at 11:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

As it stands now, four of the five Southwest Division teams would make the playoffs, with the league-owned Hornets the only exception. Still, only the Spurs seem assured of a spot, as the Mavs, Grizzlies and Rockets are all no more than two games above the Suns, who are occupy ninth place in the Western Conference. Here's the latest from the Southwest:

Courtney Lee of the Rockets will be a restricted free agent this summer, and with Kevin Martin out, he's getting a chance to show teams he can handle the starting shooting guard spot, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes.
The Hornets acquired Al-Farouq Aminu and Jason Smith before the season, and are committed to both through 2012/13. Neither has provided much of a lift this season, but Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com points to some encouraging numbers for both of them (Twitter links).
Kobe Bryant has some advice on how to coach Lamar Odom and also suggested he may recruit the free agent to return to the Lakers this summer, but Mavs coach Rick Carlisle isn't paying much attention to what Bryant has to say, notes HoopsWorld's Derek Page.
Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star Telegram isn't optimistic the struggling Odom will be able to turn it around.