Hooped Up

Superstar guard Chris Paul has signed a three-year extension with the New Orleans Hornets.

Lance Young, Paul’s agent, had travelled earlier this week to New Orleans in hopes of working out a deal quickly, and Thursday he announced the agreement had been reached.

Paul will get a total of $68 million US during the life of the deal, one that includes a fourth season at the team’s option.

The guard, who has one year remaining on his current deal, was outstanding last season, leading the NBA in assists (11.6 a game) and steals (2.7), while finishing as the Hornets’ top scorer with a 21.1 average.

CBC

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.  Below are the rest of the NBA draft results.

Round 1 NBA Draft Results

Second round results after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

New Orleans Hornets guard Rasual Butler has been charged with flashing a loaded gun near a South Florida nightclub.

A witness told investigators that Butler pulled out a gun near a South Beach club early Monday, according to a Miami Beach police report. Butler was sitting in an SUV when officers arrived and found a loaded gun in the vehicle.

“We take these matters very seriously and we’ll work with all appropriate authorities,” Hornets general manager Jeff Bower said in a statement.

Butler faces charges of carrying a concealed firearm and improperly displaying a firearm. He was released on $6,000 bond Monday afternoon.

AP

Team USA is official and here are the members selected by the USA basketball comitee.

Carmelo Anthony
Carlos Boozer
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
Tayshaun Prince
Michael Redd
Dwayne Wade
Deron Williams

This is an awesome squad but, who is going to take a back seat to who and who leads this team?

Byron Scott deserves to get paid out the box!

NBA coach of the year Byron Scott, who has the right to buy out the remainder of his contract and go to the highest bidder next season, showed little interest in leaving the Hornets on Wednesday. “I expect to be here,” Scott said. “In my mind right now I hope to be here unless something crazy happens.” The Hornets pay Scott about $3.5 million a year and the team’s majority owner, George Shinn, said he intends to make a fair extension offer that would make Scott one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.

AP/Charlotte Observer

After getting no love from the Nets after two straight NBA Finals appearances, I would not blame Scott for taking the money and running if the offer presents itself this off season.

There are alot of reasons these days to like the New Orleans Hornets. They have the best coach in Byron Scott, Chris Paul is the future of the league, they are getting rid of the boring Spurs and instead of those lame inflatable dildos they give fans behind the opposing teams basket. They give out pictures of the visiting teams girlfriend.

After months of paying attention to 4th quarters and cursing the Knicks for existing…again! The most holiest of times are upon us my friends. Here are my predictions for the first round. Now I could use my crystal ball to also predict how many games each of these match ups will go but, I left my crystal ball in the Thunder Tank.

Round 1
Western Conference
Lakers vs. Nuggests - Lakers
Jazz vs. Rockets - Rockets
Spurs vs. Suns - Suns
Hornets vs. Mavericks - Mavericks

Eastern Conference
Celtics vs. Hawks - Celtics
Cavaliers vs. Wizards - Cavaliers
Magic vs. Raptors - Magic
Pistons vs. 76ers - Pistons

Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs has been suspended one game without pay for striking Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets with his leg, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice-President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred following a foul call on Paul with 5:15 remaining in the third period of the Spurs’ 100-75 loss to the Hornets on Wednesday, March 12 at New Orleans Arena.

Bowen will serve his suspension tonight when the Spurs visit the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Hornets have 13 players under contract, and Bower said he continues to have conversations with P.J. Brown’s agent Mark Bartelstein. The Hornets want to bring back Brown, who has retired and has turned down several offers from other teams.

New Orleans Times Picayune