HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The New Orleans Hornets are at it again.
You remember the Hornets don’t you? They were the surprise team of the first few weeks of this season after an 8-0 start. They were also winners of 12 of their first 13 games and the Western Conference team no one figured would be a factor in the playoff race this season … until they actually started playing some games.
They’ve had their doubters this season, off the court and literally in the stands. But Chris Paul and company haven’t let any of that slow them down. They have not wavered in their dogged pursuit of not only a playoff spot but a top four spot.
They hit their attendance benchmark last night against the Thunder and battled back for their ninth straight win, courtesy of their stifling defense and David West‘s jumper with 0.5 seconds to play.
Clearly, Hornets coach Monty Williams is pushing all the right buttons with his team right now. We’re a bit embarrassed that no one has mentioned his name, in passing even, as a potential candidate for Coach of the (Half) Year. The Hornets have now moved into third place in the constantly changing Western Conference standings, a testament to their perseverance this season through tumultuous times.
In addition to the attendance issues that have been resolved, there’s the question of West’s future with the franchise that has to be addressed. West can opt-out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent this summer, a somewhat risky proposition without any clear-cut information about what the next labor deal will look like.
The Hornets had designs on getting him signed to an extension before the Feb. 24 trade deadline, per our main man Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, but that seems to be a long shot now. It makes for a very interesting time for Hornets GM Dell Demps, who will have to sort this thing out in short order or risk heading into the summer without the security of knowing whether West will be a part of the operation for the foreseeable future:
Demps said he and West have an agreement that they won’t speak publicly about any discussions, but the GM told Yahoo! Sports: “We’re happy with David and we want him here for a long time.”
For Demps, the question will be, should the Hornets consider trading West at the deadline out of fear of getting nothing back for one of the franchise’s cornerstone players? With the way the Hornets are playing – winners of [nine] straight, and [in third place] in the Western Conference – it’s a difficult proposition to break up this core prior to the playoffs. Nevertheless, West’s expiring contract could fetch the Hornets comparable talent with longer-term money owed to a player.
Demps would have a chance to make a sign-and-trade deal for West after the season, too. West has averaged 18.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and shot 51 percent for the Hornets this season. He’s played his entire eight-year career with the Hornets, but the chance to play for a championship contender appeals to him. The uncertainty surrounding the NBA taking over ownership of the Hornets, as well as the franchise’s potential relocation, leave a lot of unanswered questions for a player being asked to commit long-term to the franchise.
“Under the current labor deal, I think he’ll get that $10 million a year,” said one rival GM who would have interest in signing West. “But who knows under the next deal?”
Hornets fans probably aren’t sweating it right now, not with their team playing as well as they are right now.
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I feel sorry for the hornets with CP3, D-west and Okafor, they are by far the most underrated team in the NBA. Last season they didnt have CP3 and future franchise issues have clearly been the reason that they are simply not talked about enough. Did you know that they only have one televised game this season (Even the Cavaliers of more games on show) and hornets are a playoff team which may well make the top 4. Lastly CP3 is the no1 pg in the nba right now and its unfair that people seem to consistently rank him around 4th behin rose, williams and rando, I know this is always debatable but stats STRONGLY suggest otherwise.
go hornets forget them hollywood lakers
Man this article aint even talking about the Lakers why would you bring them up? Jesus… I’m a Laker fan and I respect EVERYTHING the Hornets are doing. Yet people still gotta compare their teams to the Lakers. FORGET THE LAKERS AND WORRY ABOUT YO SQUAD.
i feel sorry for the lakers because the hornets is gone to win the NBA championship
couldnt have said it better
Uhhhh… Season series thus far Laker 2 Hornets 0… That was an ugly defeat IN New Orleans as well as in LA…
Same goes for Reggie. WORRY ABOUT YO SQUAD. Appreciate what they doing and quit being so jealous.
I really don’ think they should resign West. He is a solid player who becomes a good player playing with Paul but locking him up into a long term deal with the current CBA agreement being unsure i do not think that is a good idea. Yes they have to try and placate Paul but he can not leave either for a few more years so they have time to make better moves with the cap space West frees up to make other trades n signings.
feel sorry for the hornets with CP3, D-west and Okafor, they are by far the most underrated team in the NBA. Last season they didnt have CP3 and future franchise issues have clearly been the reason that they are simply not talked about enough. Did you know that they only have one televised game this season (Even the Cavaliers of more games on show) and hornets are a playoff team which may well make the top 4. Lastly CP3 is the no1 pg in the nba right now and its unfair that people seem to consistently rank him around 4th behin rose, williams and rando, I know this is always debatable but stats STRONGLY suggest otherwise.
I hear you on this man but i don’t think the Hornets are under-rated. They are not better than the Heat, Spurs, Lakers, Celtics, Mavericks and even though they just beat the Thunder last night they will never beat them in a 7 game series. So i hear u that they maybe aren’t getting as much love as they should but they question is how much should they be? But i do agree that Chris Paul is either no1 or 2 in the PG discussion with only Deron Williams as his competition. Rose and Rondo are just not on their level yet and people may trip over the Rondo jab but put Chris Paul or Deron Williams with that Celtics team and they would have won every championship since coming together. Rondo has too many holes as a player and needs to fix them starting with shooting and making 1,000 mid range shots a day and 1,000 three pointers a day and 10,000 free throws a day lol
WHAT? obviously you havn’t seen them beath the thunder, heat, mavricks, and put a spanking on the spurs! they are the most underrated team in the NBA and paul is definetly the best PG in the game right now.
Hard to compare Mavs and Hornets seeing as how the home team has won the reg season game for like 4 seasons in a row.
But so far Id say the Hornets are better, especially if they have home court advantage should they meet in the playoffs.
David West is a fantastic player, a charismatic leader on the court. All us, Hornets’ fans, we recognize the enormous importance of David to the team and franchise. I’m hoping he stays. His place is with us. But if he chooses to opt for a fresh start on another team, wish, first, very successful at this tremendous player. And I will thank him for what he did for New Orleans Hornets for all these years.
im just glad the hornets are back on track !
I’ve been a hornets fan ever since they got here and i always liked west but questioned his usefulness. Before this year he was an absolutely terrible defender, but this year has been a dramatic turn around for him, he is fighting harder than he has in years, and i attest that to coach monty, he is really making a difference, and the trades demps has made are obviously putting our team in the right direction. Whether we trade him or not i have to believe demps knows what he is doing, after all he made the spurs into what they are.
i totally agree with you on the fact that before this season west wasn’t as big of a factor to this team.
feel sorry for the lakers because the hornets is gone to win the NBA championship
Come on man lets not get carried away win.Is that the same team the lakers spank twice already this year.Please!Lakers got bigger fish to fry than the Hornets.
I love cp3 but West is only good because he plays with Cp3 stop allthis talk. West likes all the points he is gettin with Cp3″s assists. He wont leave
In my Dreams, and only my Dreams, Demps could work on a super-Trade sending with the Nuggets and Sixers that could Land us Melo, Giving N.O. a chance to have 5 all-stars next year: West, Paul, Okafor, Melo, and…………. Thornton. ( Yes I see him as a future all-star.
But back to reality…….
Good job Monty, and Dell. Monty has turned Marcus Thornton into an all-around player. He was a fantastic on Defense Last night. It will only be a matter of time before he starts to turn heads just like he did in his rookie season. ( I still think that If he gets invited to the Rookie Sophmore game, it will be his breakout. Great job Hornets! GEAUX BEES!
Quit hating. Just play ball and save the sympathy for your own team. Geaux HORNETS
monta elise 4 d-west and we will fix the money with sending marco back to yall and give us b-wright …. and you can have the 2nd round pick
The Hornets would be championship good, like the Lakers, if they were handed Pau Gasol for just about nothing. Lakers fans are no fun. I know one thing, if I lived in LA I’d be all over the Clippers, even pre-Griffin, but now that they’re in the Griffin era, I think the choice would be crystal clear as to which LA squad I’d root for.
The Hornets need big men. If Demp dump David West it means that this team in return will recieved tall and physically powerful center to match the combination of Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
Against Defending Champion Lakers the Hornets can beat only this team if they shoot 95 percent from the field. We know the fact that Hornets is so undersized.