Swarmin’ the Links: 6/09

Today we will Swarm the Links to see what’s going on in the Hornets Hive of information.

• There isn’t much out there, but over at Dime MagazineAndrew Macaluso says the Hornets have a good shot at getting back into playoff contention in 2011 (this upcoming season). An excerpt:

The city of New Orleans belongs to the Saints — who cast a pretty big shadow with their Super Bowl trophy — but with a healthy Paul, Ariza to run alongside him, West’s silky smooth jumper and Okafor’s defense, look for the Hornets to get back into playoff contention.

• Dime Magazine also previews the 15 best expiring contracts in the NBAthis year and our boy Peja Stojakovic makes the cut,

7. Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans
2010-11 Salary: $14,256,000
Unless your team’s best shooter goes down with a season-ending injury, no one is looking to add Peja to the rotation. But we do know that the Hornets have been sitting on this contract for a reason. Could they make a move for some young talent to put around Chris Paul? Potentially. Maybe he has one more 3-Point Contest victory left in him.

• Chris Paul never asked for a trade, tell me something I don’t know. But in all seriousness I really believe that these trade rumors stem from two things. The first is poor incompetent journalism which is the fault of both the reporter and the entity itself. You can’t just accept off-the-record information as credible news worthy of being spread throughout the NBA universe. Sure, after the free-agency of Lebron and company the offseason seemed dull and boring, but that’s no reason to plug any rumor as news. The second is the work of CAA, who naturally were an acting agency first before moving into sports. I don’t watch entourage, but I think that CAA really are more like the Jerry Maguire’s of the world, not the sappy end where he grows a conscience. The first bit where all he’s about is the money (and controlling the league). It’s sad that these people are disconnecting themselves from the integrity of the game.
• Luther Head apparently was fine and the Hornets lied about his physical condition. I can’t buy this again because once again it’s an agent’s word (and several no-name sources who quite easily could be Luther Head’s friends and family) against two official spokesman for an NBA ballclub. Many seem to forget that Agent’s earn a commission and once Head failed his physical his price-tag immediately decreased, so it’s no wonder his agent isn’t happy. At The Hive does a good job of dissecting thisby really attacking the credibility of both sides and turns out the agent and A-Woj suffer the most, bravo Mr. Savvy Journalist.
• Our old coach Byron Scott is looking to win championships in Cleveland,but I have a tough time believing that will happen any time soon sans Lebron James. In the article it doesn’t mention Byron’s time with the Hornets, only the fact he won coach of the year and was fired. Look Byron does a great job of coming in and turning programs around (New Jersey and New Orleans). But quite frankly his stubborn mentality when it comes to rotations and young players really kills teams sometimes. Guys like Julian Wright never earnt Scott’s full vote of confidence which hindered his development. For example guys like Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton would not have been discovered because guys like Devin Brown (Yuck!), Morris Peterson (Oh god…) and James Posey (Bum) would be taking every single one of their minutes…

Well it’s been a tired and dull period in the NBA, my Australian Boomers were knocked out of the World Championships in embarrassing fashion, but for those of you actually reading this blog, (Hello are you out there?) I heavily advise you to check out my Australian Wallabies (National Rugby team) defeat the South African Springboks in a sensational game that came down to the last second. You might not understand the rules but check out the video.

Tags: Byron Scott, Chris Paul, Luther Head, New Orleans Hornets, Peja Stojakovic