[HitsterParticipant]

With the Hornets trying to trade Chris Kaman and no doubt him looking to get onto another roster next year, I wondered whether it might be in both parties’ interests if Kaman was offered a pending extension which he could sign if the trade trigger was pulled. I know that teams are reluctant to take on players on long term big money deals but something at around $7 million a year for 2 or 3 years would surely be decent market value for a guy who was an All Star only a couple of seasons ago and who still remains a serviceable big man. This level of salary would equate well with what Kwarme Brown and Samuel Dalembert got during the last FA period and would give Kaman a good salary going into his 30’s. Also with a team getting Kaman for longer then NOH would surely get a better package back unless they used Kaman’s expiring deal to take on a salary dump.

 

Some teams may be happy to take Kaman on as a rental but I doubt they would give up much for it so NOH would perhaps be taking back more expiring deals and these teams might be those who have aspirations of trying to get Dwight Howard in the summer. With the League owning NOH, I wonder if they would allow the team to take on a salary dump a la the Cavs last year given that the League is running the team.

 

Also if the Hornets remains in league hands can they realistically chase FA’s above MLE type level and if Eric Gordon decides to move on then the team will look as if it cannot retain it’s FA’s. The worse thing for the League could be if Gordon decided to sign a one year offer and then become an unrestricted FA in 2013 and if he got a big money near max offer then do NOH

match or try to do an S and T which again could conflict interests. The League may be loathe to overpay Gordon but if he moves on and Kaman hits FA then all NOH got for CP3 is effectively Aminu and a pick from the T-Wolves which isn’t going to be half as good as once thought mainly due to the arrival of Ricky Rubio.

 

NOH will of course get a likely high lottery pick but if the team is seen as being unable to retain players then prospects could start saying they would not want to play for NOH or refusing to work out for the Hornets in the draft process.

 

The league needs to find a buyer for the team and quickly but as the team struggles then it’s value may well decrease and attendances may start to drop off. The big decision could be if the league get offers from other cities and states outside of NOH, there is talk of a consortium trying to get a team back to Seattle and with the ongoing Kings to Anaheim rumours then might it be possible that something could happen here. Maybe the Kings remain in Sacramento given the boost that Jimmer has given them commercially and Anaheim try to attract the Hornets given they have a set up which a team could fit into and if the league had an offer then it would be hard for them to refuse this on the grounds of wanting to keep a team in New Orleans. I could see the Lakers and Clippers perhaps favouring the Hornets in Anaheim rather than the Kings moving there and bringing fans with them and thus creating a potentially bigger team than the Hornets may be near to LA.

 

The other option could be that the Maloofs decide to move the Kings to Anaheim or sell the team to an owner who moves the team there and then Sacramento maybe see the Hornets as a way to get a team back into the City fairly quickly. If the Hornets asking price drops then is it hard to imagine Mayor Kevin Johnson seeing it as a great way to get a NBA team back in the City at a cut price and maybe getting the League to help towards building a new Arena which the Kings have been after. The NBA own a team which is likely losing money and they can get out of their investment by making a contribution towards getting the team a new Arena and avoid any conflicts going forward, Mayor Johnson thus delivers a team back to Sacramento and gets a new Arena in the near future.

 

This would sadly leave NOH without an NBA team but if no local buyers have come forward yet then will they come forward in the near future. If no buyer can be found quickly then maybe NOH’s best hope is to draft a legit superstar who can reignite the team e.g. CP3 when he was picked by NOH or Blake Griffin’s effect on the Clippers and thus new owners see the commercial value in the team.

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

this team made some interesting moves and could build something à la sixers/pacers/nuggets/jazz…. if they don’t move to seattle !!!

no real star but a bunch of good players with good mentality under a smart coach. They primarly need to upgrade the pg spot and develop henry, aminu, vazquez..

they made a very good move by signing gustavo ayon who will surprise lots of people in the next years. He really could develop as a gortat kind of prospect… and solidify their frontcourt with okafor and landry (even if kaman goes away).

[CoachWorthyParticipant]

 Chris Kamen can’t be traded for along with another player. This complicates there options with him. The Hornets should do a Eric Gordon for Paul George and late 1rst round pick swap with Indy. It gives you a guy with probably as much or more potential for the Hornets who gets paid a few years later. Either the Pacers who seem to always be in the market for a shooting guard (eyeing E.G. in 2012 F.A., OJ Mayo, Jamal Crawford) want to dump Granger and let George play the three or are looking past him in there future.  

[Sam_HinkieParticipant]

The Pacers should just wait a year and sign EJ as a free agent

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