NBA New Orleans

Chris Paul is considered a member of that group of players that includes Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and others at the elite level, all of which had contracts set to expire after 2009/2010 through a variety of mechanisms. It would appear that at least one of them is happy where he's at.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that Paul and the Hornets have agreed in principle to a three-year extension, with an option for a fourth year that brings the total value to $68 million dollars. The deal will keep him with the Hornets a while longer. It's a huge signing for the smaller market Hornets, and gives them a foundation for success for the next five years.

On a day where sadness seems to pervade the Internet regarding the Sonics departure from Seattle, its ironic that such a feel-good story as Paul signing a long term deal with what was a struggling franchise happens. Why? Because without the overwhelming and enthusiastic support of the citizens of Oklahoma City who did such a dastardly thing as "actually coming to the games," the Hornets might not have gotten enough support to even stay in New Orleans, where people are now actually coming to the games. Interesting. Of course, on the flip side, if it hadn't been for Paul's outstanding play, Oklahoma City may not have gotten so enthused about the NBA, which precipitated Clay Bennett's chicanery. It's the circle of life. Or at least greed, money, and marketability.

If you (note: Hubie Brown voice) are the New Orleans Hornets and you have a point guard under your control who is going to be a free agent in a few years, and you know that you need him to be competitive for an NBA title in a smaller market, you lock him up.

The Hornets -- despite notoriously "frugal" owner George Shinn's ways -- are doing just that, as John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune is reporting that Chris Paul and NOLA are getting ready to reach an agreement on a max-deal four or five year extension.

"We're going to try and get it done in the next 24 to 48 hours once I get down there,'' [Paul's agent Lance] Young said by telephone. "I think if you go back and look, there's nobody who did a three-year deal of all the max deals done in the last few years. I would say three years is not what he is going to do. It will be a four or a five-year deal.''

Paul's contract will range from $60 million to $80 million, depending on the length. Young said he and Bower spoke by telephone on Tuesday, the first day teams could begin negotiating contracts with free agents.

Let's be perfectly clear: if you are the the New Orleans Hornets, you give Chris Paul whatever money and how many ever years he wants. He is most certainly one of the top five players in the league, and while many might take Kobe or LeBron if they were starting a team, I think Paul is a legitimate candidate.

And even if you disagree, Paul was most certainly an MVP candidate last year, most certainly the reason for the Hornets resurgence and most certainly worthy of this kind of contract.

Paul Allen's riches keep stocking Kevin Pritchard's cupboards, don't they? Last June, the Blazers bought James Jones and the pick which became Rudy Fernandez from the cash-strapped Suns. On Tuesday, word got out that Pritchard had pilfered away the #27 pick from New Orleans for the standard fee of $3 million.

Recent dispatches from the excellent Hornets 24/7 indicated N.O. didn't seem too likely to fall in love with any prospects expected to be available, so the sale of the pick isn't surprising. The identity of the buyer, though, is a bit surprising. As Henry Abbott notes, Portland already has too many players and too many picks (three second-rounders this year, plus #13 overall). Plain as day, Pritchard looks like he wants to move up into the top-10, possibly to grab either Joe Alexander or D.J. Augustin, both of whom impressed in workouts.

Maybe that's not the play at all, though. Here's my crackpot spoon theory: Allen wants to tap into the European market in a big way, so he's building a second pro basketball roster with the aim of purchasing a Europe-based club. He could stock the Blazers and the Euro club each summer based on needs out of his pool of 20 or so players (plus whatever free agents he needs). Raef LaFrentz and Channing Frye would destroy the Adriatic League!

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Now that the Birdman (Ka-kaw) is back, the Hornets are really only one or two pieces away from contending for a championship that they could have won last year anyway. Which makes this pick tough -- New Orleans certainly has needs, but whether or not those can be immediately answered at 27 will determine whether they actually end up pulling the trigger on any first rounders.

Picks: #27

Needs: A scorer from the two. They need some frontcourt depth too, but they can acquire that without having to use a draft pick. Not to mention an immediate offensive impact shooting guard takes the pressure off of Peja and Chris Paul (vis a vis Jannero Pargo seeing more minutes at the point).

Best case scenario: Chris Douglas-Roberts or Courtney Lee somehow drops to the Hornets in the first ... which a lot of mocks actually have happening. I think they gets pulled on before then but, oh, the three letter nicknames we'd see. Give me a second, I'll figure something out for Lee.

Hornets brass announced they have reached an extension agreement with Byron Scott today, locking up the Coach of the Year through 2009-10. No dollars reported yet, but John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune estimates roughly $6 million a year, based on previous demands. $6 million well spent, I'd say.

While some CotY winners reek of fluke (Doc Rivers, Sam Mitchell), Scott has evoked the sense of cornerstone. No one would've flinched had the extension been for four, five years; in fact, the brevity of the deal is a bit off-putting, considering my forthcoming theory. But it took only six days for the sides to reach an agreement, which indicates these guys really like each other.

So, could Scott turn into the next Gregg Popovich (who quietly got extended this week) or Jerry Sloan? Set aside the disciplinarian/angry-face comparisons and focus on the tenure -- the pair have been in their respective arenas so long they've become fabric of their franchises. Nowhere else in the modern NBA do you see that on the bench. Scott's young, and his team is young. Could you see him coaching a 32-year-old Chris Paul in 2018? The prospect's more likely than most others, with only Nate McMillan sitting in a similar sort of comfort as a young coach.

(Of course, this requires steady management from the team, something Hornets owner George Shinn's not exactly known for.)

Game Seven. No way out except onward. The defending champs responded at home and sent a message about their physical approach. Now the Hornets are at home, hoping to knock off the Spurs and keep them from their "one for the thumb." In an expanded edition of our playoff game previews, here are seven things to keep an eye on in tonight's Spurs-Hornets Game 7.





1. Let's Get The Ugliness Out Of The Way: David West will play. So will Robert Horry. And it'll probably be fine and nothing else will happen. But the tension will be there. And don't be completely shocked if there's another incident of "good playoff basketball" somewhere that ends up with West clutching his back again. These things "just happen." Meanwhile, Horry will be booed like he probably never has been before. Suns fans didn't get another shot at him that season and are notoriously civil. I would not expect the same treatment from the New Orleans folks. There's going to be a lot of physical play and don't be surprised if we see more technical fouls as both teams are really getting to dislike one another.

2. Duncan Versus West: Mano A Mano: The Spurs are 1-1 in putting Tim Duncan on David West one on one. Duncan was able to shut down the All-Star before the "good hard playoff basketball" by using his size and length in conjunction with a cohesive Spurs effort that jacked up the spacing for the Hornets on the offensive end. Conversely, in Game 5, with a healthy David West and the confidence of homecourt, West was nearly unstoppable. If he gets separation from Duncan and freezes him with the drive fake, he can get his jumper going, and that's when he gets scary. Conversely, Tyson Chandler has the job of guarding Duncan on the defensive end, but West has held his own. You never know which Tim Duncan is going to show up anymore. The bamboozled veteran that seems to slow and too clumsy to ever get anything going, or the best power forward in the history of the game. The Spurs can win without Duncan going off, and they can lose with Duncan scoring 30+, but both scenarios are very difficult to achieve.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Hornets-Spurs Western Conference Semifinals Game 6 this evening.

1. Backs To The Wall: Well, here we are, San Antonio. The Spurs are not very used to having their backs against the wall, they usually are the ones doing the shoving. But tonight at home will either be the last stand of one of the most quietly dominant dynasties in NBA history or the night where the old gunslingers draw the line in the sand. With a raucous (and possibly, maybe sell-out) crowd behind them, the odds are in the favor of the boys in black and silver. However, against a Hornets team that's going to be feeling the momentum and smelling blood, they can't let up. They need to make some of the same adjustments they made in Games 3 and 4, and some new ones to prevent the Game 5 massacre. Like, oh, I don't know, keeping David West from single handedly annihilating you.

2. Feet On The Floor, Head In The Clouds: The health of Tyson Chandler and David West will be of great concern tomorrow night. Chandler's foot was so bad that afterwards he said he probably wouldn't walk on it that night but said he would be "fine." He then reiterated that sentiment on his blog, which was quite lengthy for a guy that just played a bunch of minutes in a playoff game against Tim Duncan, I might add. Meanwhile West was in obvious physical pain and still managed to destroy the Spurs in what can only be described as a symphony of catastrophic moves that had to make Spurs fans wonder if he was Satan himself. Still, injuries are injuries and teams that are beat up usually don't do so well on the road. We'll see if the devil gets paid his due tonight or if Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen can fire up the fiddle again.

Every now and again there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Just when people started to wonder if their run was over, the Hornets stomped all over the Spurs to the tune of 101-79 on Tuesday night. Chris Paul (22 points, 14 assists) was his usually stellar self, but David West was simply awesome, scoring 38 (16-25 FG) with 14 boards, five blocks, five assists and a pair of steals.

West is often overshadowed by CP3's almost-nightly brilliance, but the Hornets wouldn't be where they are -- one win away from the franchise's first conference finals appearance -- without their other All-Star.

Also Receiving Votes:
Antonio McDyess' sdouble-double (17 points, 11 boards) may not look all that spectacular on paper, but when you consider the work he did down the stretch coming down with seemingly every loose ball in a close game, it's not hard to see why Rip Hamilton (31 points, 16-16 FT) called him the MVP of the game. Making it all the more impressive was the fact that McDyess played the game with a heavy heart, learning just hours before tip-off that his grandmother, who helped raise him, passed away Tuesday afternoon.

Dwight Howard: Rebounds are about effort, and effort never slumps, which is why Howard finished Tuesday's game with 17 boards. That said, his shot abandoned him in the most crucial game of the year: he shot just 6-15 from the free-throw line. Howard now has all summer to think about how he missed nine freebies in an elimination game which the Magic lost by five.

Tim Duncan: Sure, he was held to just 10 points, but 23 rebounds? That's just silly.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Spurs-Hornets Western Conference Semifinals Game 5 this evening.

1. Expect The Unexpected: I've worked this game around in my head for the last day, and I still can't get an answer out of it. It's like trying to get a clear choice out of a busted Magic Eight Ball. I can't even get a "Reply Hazy, Try Again." Nothing would surprise me tonight. A Spurs blowout? Of course! They're the champs and they've figured out the Hornets. A Hornets blowout? Well, you saw the first two games, didn't you? A Hornets breakaway in the last five minutes? That's what happens when you're old and slow. A Hornets meltdown in the last five minutes? That's what happens when you're young and inexperienced! A Spurs buzzer-beater? There's a reason Robert Horry, Michael Finley, and Brent Barry play for the Spurs. Armageddon? Why not? There's really no way to predict what will come out tonight in New Orleans.

2. Duncan Go Nuts: Maybe it was just the flu. Maybe the only thing holding Tim Duncan back in Games 1 and 2 were the chills and fever he reportedly had, and it had nothing to do with the stifling and effective double teams by the Hornets. The most likely answer is that it was a little bit of both. Either way, the Spurs have figured a way around that trick. By pulling Manu Ginobili to Duncan's post side and using him as the entry passer, they've presented the Hornets with their two worst matchups at once. Bring the help defender, and Ginobili's either got a three or the step on a drive if the help tries to close out. Don't bring the help defender ... well, let's just say you want to bring the help defender. The Hornets may have to try going to zone tonight and bringing Bonzi Wells over from the weak side block to provide pressure. Most importantly, if Tyson Chandler is guarding Duncan, he cannot do what he did in the last game and give Tim Duncan the baseline. That's just suicide. And it's not painless.

Home court matters. That much is evident in this conference semifinal round, and every team that did not sprint for the higher seed has failed. Tonight we see how much the difference makes in what is unarguably the best series so far in the playoffs. It's go time, and we've got you covered at 8PM EST. Sing-a-long, won't you?