Finally, Chris Paul is dealt away from the Hornets. On Wednesday night, the Clippers agreed to a deal where L.A. gets Paul and two future second-round picks, while New Orleans gets Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick. Here’s a quick list of the fantasy implications: Read More »

This team is all about a stud point guard and a bunch of spare parts. If its big free agent doesn’t re-sign with the team, the New Orleans Hornets could be one of the more unappealing NBA teams for fantasy owners. With nearly half of its roster on the market, the Hornets will be a team to monitor whenever the league resumes. Read More »

Every year in the NBA there are 16 teams that make the playoffs and 14 who are relegated to the NBA Lottery. Those 14 teams hope that their draft pick can be a building block for the future and help their team become one of the 16 in the playoffs the following season. This article evaluates how well this year’s lottery teams have drafted the past five years: Read More »

It’s tired and cliché but it’s still true: the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season. What worked during the 82-game run may not work in the playoffs. Still, normally you can find clues to determine who will move on and who’s starting the summer early, and it’s not always the big names that make the difference. It’s the supporting cast, the good players, the guys only the bloggers and hardcore fans who watch the same team every night of the year truly appreciate. (Guys like James Harden.)

With that, here are my key players for each series: Read More »

Considering the game was played on New Year’s Eve, Celtics/Hornets was the right matchup scheduled in the wrong city. We’re pretty sure every player involved would rather have spent the night partying in New Orleans instead of Boston — or on a plane headed to another road city … The injury-depleted Celtics rolled out a starting five of Nate Robinson, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Big Baby and Shaq, with Jermaine O’Neal as the sixth man and Luke Harangody getting significant minutes off the bench. They hung in there with the healthy Hornets and were actually leading by seven midway through the fourth quarter before Marco Belinelli sparked an 11-2 run to give N.O. the lead. Read More »

Until Monty Williams wised up, the Pistons had a pretty effective strategy going into overtime against the Hornets last night: Identify whoever Marco Belinelli was guarding and let that guy get buckets. Ben Gordon (25 pts) hit Marco for two shots right off the bat, and after Chris Paul switched onto BG, Will Bynum (21 pts, 9 asts) took Marco to the rack for another score. Monty finally got the picture and took Marco out, and the Hornets were able to take the lead with 15 seconds on a pair of David West free throws. Read More »

We argue. You decide.

DERON WILLIAMS There is this perception that Deron Williams was always playing catch-up to Chris Paul. The truth is that Williams has been the best point guard in the world for a while.

Paul may have his Hornets sitting at a surprising 11-2. But who can forget what Williams did these past few weeks? Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with the game on the line? Counting down from 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

CHRIS PAUL, New Orleans Hornets It’s probably unfair to judge CP3′s merits as a go-to clutch player the morning after his team lost to the Clippers.

In many ways, Paul has been than ever this year, leading the Hornets to an 11-2 record with a first-year head coach (Monty Williams) and one All-Star teammate (David West). Read More »

A five-player deal happened during the weekend that had the Raptors send Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks and David Andersen to the Hornets in exchange for Jerryd Bayless and Peja Stojakovic. While the names aren’t the most important or relevant for most fantasy owners, there are still some implications to be discussed. Here’s a quick breakdown of the fantasy consequences: Read More »

Utah broadcaster Ron Boone called it at the beginning of the second half: “The Jazz will win this game.” Never mind that his team was down 16 at halftime and were close to setting a record for “Least amount of effort exhibited by any Jerry Sloan team ever.” What happened? First of all, we’re betting Sloan lit some C4 beneath some of his guy’s butts during the break. And secondly, some bad Clipper luck — coupled with Deron Williams going into beast mode once again — led to Utah’s 109-107 come from behind 2OT win … Read More »