# Hornets involved in 4 team trade...



## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

My brother just called me with this news. All he said was the Hornets get Trevor Ariza. And then he said Collison was gone. Now I see Collison, Posey and Julian are gone. Just after I asked him if anyone took Julian I came to the local news site to see Julian is gone for Marco Belinelli. Oh wow. I was hoping we could keep Collison at least for another season. We seriously need another guard to back up Chris though. I'm sure Demps knows this. I've wondered what it would be like to have Ariza as a Hornet for a little while now so I guess I'll get to see it. Ha.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5455472


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

The real question is now: Who will be the Hornets' back up PG?


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Hornets use Collison to dump a bad contract. This doesn't really help them on the court, not unless they intend to go do something else now. Really it makes them worse on the court. Ariza could easily follow the same career arc as Posey did after he got to NOLA. He's old too and pretty similar to Posey in every way except that he's not fallen off a cliff like Posey has.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

I would've preferred to had kept Collison but I don't think this is all bad. I think Ariza is a little bit cheaper but if you can pay around the same amount for Ariza that you're paying for Posey and get more production, you did good. The Pacers weren't giving up a player of Granger's caliber for Collison which is what a lot of Hornets fans were hoping for. Ariza brings the type of defense that Posey USED TO. Reading Marc Spears' twitter he claims...



> @jermaine611 rockets have swingman logjam, *he and brooks had bad chemistry *
> about 6 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to jermaine611


The Rockets were pretty much trying to make Ariza a first option last season. That's not the role for Ariza. CP3 will set the table better for him. He doesn't have to be a first or 2nd option as a Hornet. The offseason isn't over and I don't think the Hornets are finished. Reading on another board I hear the Hornets are doing Season Ticket Holder conference calls tonight and Demps said a backup PG for CP3 is in the works. I don't understand how people don't think Ariza would not give the Hornets more production than James Posey and Julian Wright.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

> NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps has decided he has a better chance of winning a championship with Chris Paul than without him. Good decision.
> 
> Sure it’s a little more complicated than that because Paul spent the early part of this summer letting it be known that he believed his best chance of winning a championship was somewhere other than New Orleans and he’d prefer to go elsewhere.
> 
> ...



http://www.neworleans.com/sports/sp...rnets-choose-paul-or-nothing-with-trades.html


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Ariza to Y!Sports...



> Ariza told Y! Sports he was "surprised" by Rockets trade to New Orleans and didn't ask for a trade, but he's ecstatic to play with CP3.
> 8 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
> 
> Ariza to Y! on Hornets: "I want to win and help them win. I want to be an All-Star there."
> ...


And CP3 isn't usually too quick to follow teammates on Twitter but he's already following Ariza.


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## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

my immediate reaction was slightly skewed in a negative sense because of the fact that collison APPEARED to have some serious trade value, but the fact is, he only showed himself to be a good player, and his ceiling is still questionable considering his age and time spent already playing college ball. We took a player that didnt really look that comfortable in a backup role (which is what he would have been no matter what this year) and traded him for a player that can play 35 minutes as a starter and gives us something we havent had in cp3s tenure, and thats a reliable slasher/wing defender. Ariza may not be GREAT at any particular thing, but his ability to help across the board in basically all aspects of the game is a huge upgrade than sitting on a player whos trade value may have maxed out considering we showcased him more last year than we could have anytime chris paul is playing. 

As of this morning, SF was gonna be a committee of peja/wright/posey/q-pon, now we have a STARTING role completely lined up and defined, and we just tossed our second worst contract out the window. Our worst contract, okafor, still has a chance to prove himself considering he is going to be put into a new system, will have a full training camp, and shouldnt have to worry about playing with cp3 for just half the year. Plus, even if cp3 goes down again, we were ****ed anyway, having collison wouldn't have kept us afloat. Plus, whos to say the player we get to backup cp3 for those 8-10 minutes wont do just as admirable of a job since that isn't asking very much out of them? These moves also saved us essentially 2 million dollars, which gives us even more wiggle room for future moves. 

The hornets are again completely flying under the radar, but they have essentially flipped this entire team in between the draft and now, I cant help but have a positive outlook in terms of our youth infusion and new faces on the roster. Plus, who knows what other things are being worked on? Could we end up with gasol next offseason and move okafor to pf? and since dx will be over 30, can we sign him to a reasonable contract and make him one of the more solid backups in the entire league? we also have two unknowns in brackins and quincy, we struck gold last year in the draft, if we just go 1 for 2 and have another legit rotation player we will have multiple guys playing on very workable contracts.


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## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

I also feel we should take a flyer on diogu for the minimum, and that leaves us only NEEDING one player, which we obviously will get considering a backup to cp3 is required.

paul/watson?/belinelli
thornton/belinelli
ariza/q-pon or peja/peja or q-pon
west/songalia/brackins
okafor/diogu/gray

Not a world beater, but they have three players on the starting unit that can shoot the three along with three players who can create plays for themselves great, and two who can do it adequately (ariza and okafor). Isolation sets are gonna allow chris to play off the ball more, and give much more movement to the offense considering the off the ball screens and whatnot that can take effect when you have players who can score 1 on 1 efficiently.


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## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

some more advanced stats that are really sticking out right now for me. Post all-star break, after the kevin martin trade, ariza went from shooting 37/30% from the field and three for 15.5 points, to 44 and 41 from three for 13.5 points. Also noteworthy, was this major shift in efficiency directly correlated with him moving back to his natural SF position, all the numbers back that up as well. He also shot that 41 percent from behind the arc while taking over 5 threes a game, thats pretty ridiculous considering those numbers flirt with some of pejas best seasons behind the arc. IF he can put together those numbers for an entire season (huge question mark obviously) then he'd be essentially a top 10 three point shooter statistically in the league.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I just don't like this deal for basketball. Indiana desperately needed Collison and you don't really get much more than a salary dump. Now the truth is that as good as Collison was as a starter he wasn't great as a reserve, but that doesn't mean he's worth less in a trade. If you're going to do this deal you need to get back someone who will help you as much COllison will help the Pacers and that isn't Ariza. Unless you take the flexibility and make another move that helps you on the court this isn't even a lateral move. It doesn't make you a better team this year, it just removes the smell of Posey's bloated contract.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

I'm still firmly on the fence on this deal, and that never feels good. I don't think the Hornets got as much value as they could have for Collison, but I don't think Ariza is a bad fit either. It's a more dynamic move than the Hornets normally make. Potentially, this is a sign of a more forward-thinking front office?


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Isn't the league minimum for a roster 12? The Hornets currently have 11 so that all but assures another move has to be made. 


One of the guys who writes for the Hornets answered a question about a backup PG....



> RT @HenrySure: who will be the backup PG now? (Demps can't give specifics, but has "long list of candidates." Could be trade or free agent)
> about 18 hours ago via web


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

girllovesthegame said:


> Isn't the league minimum for a roster 12?


Actually, with the current CBA the minimum is 13 players.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Thanks for that correction. The Hornets usually go into the season with 14 but with all the turnaround in this offseason, nothing is 'usual' right now. So they have to add at least 2 more players then. Okie dokie. Should be another guard and another big.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

The Tale of Two Arizas:Which One Are The Hornets Getting?


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Why Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli Are Exactly What NOLA Needs

One thing I don't agree with is that the Hornets should've kept Aldrich.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

girllovesthegame said:


> One thing I don't agree with is that the Hornets should've kept Aldrich.


I tend to agree with you. I think the chances are higher that either Brackins or Pondexter becomes a valuable rotation player in this league than the chances that Aldrich does the same.


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