New Orleans Pelicans Blog – Page 69 – NBA Blog

Getting Trevor Ariza helps Hornets

Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com reports:

Ariza’s ability to contribute in multiple ways, on both ends of the floor. New Orleans has given significant minutes to several somewhat one-dimensional players at the wing positions over the past few seasons, but Ariza is regarded as an above-average defender and is an improving offensive player (career-best 14.9 scoring average in 2009-10).

As frequent jump shooters, neither Peja Stojakovic nor James Posey – the Hornets who’ve logged the bulk of the playing time at small forward – finish well at the rim on fast breaks, but that’s an area where Ariza has excelled. Monty Williams also envisions the 6-foot-8, long-armed and athletic Ariza giving New Orleans the ability to throw a few varied looks at opposing offenses.

Williams: “He brings some things to the table that we just didn’t have. He’s a guy I can use in transition, he’s become a better shooter throughout his career and he’s a guy who’s going to allow me to put in a 3-2 zone and put him at the top of the zone, and put him in a number of spots. He’s a guy that can switch on pick-and-rolls (due to his combination of size and athletic ability), and guard some of the power forwards in this league. He can rebound.”

April 12, 2010: Trevor Ariza of the Houston Rockets during the game between the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets at Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA. Ben Munn/CSM.

Raptors trade Marco Belinelli to Hornets for Julian Wright

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have acquired forward Julian Wright from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for guard Marco Belinelli.

Wright, 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, was the 13th overall selection by the Hornets in the 2007 NBA Draft. He has played in 179 career games, making 34 starts. He scored a career-high 20 points on March 7 in both the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds as part of his first career double-double (11 points) March 27, 2007 at New York.

“This move should help balance the roster and alleviate some of the redundancy we have with our guards,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “Julian is another young athletic player that will add depth at the small forward position.”

Wright appeared in a career-best 68 games with 14 starts last season, shooting .500 (116-232) from the field. He started 14 of 16 games in March 2009, averaging 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 23.6 minutes. He owns career averages of 4.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 12.7 minutes. He has seen action in 15 postseason games with New Orleans.

An early entry draft candidate after two seasons at the University of Kansas, Wright was a collegiate standout leading the Jayhawks to the conference championship in the 2006 and 2007 campaigns. He was an All-Big 12 First Team choice as a sophomore averaging 12.0 points and 7.8 rebounds. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds as a freshman enroute to a Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection.

Wright won the prestigious Mr. Basketball of Illinois award as a high school senior in 2005. He is part of an impressive list of 15 players since 1981 that have captured the honour and played in the NBA, highlighted by Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics).

Belinelli was acquired from Golden State on July 30, 2009 for forward Devean George and cash considerations. He averaged 7.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 66 games in his lone season with the Raptors.

April 12, 2010: Toronto Raptors' Marco Belinelli (0) during the NBA basketball game between the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Piston at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Hornets hire Tim Connelly and Gerald Madkins

The New Orleans Hornets announced the hiring of Tim Connelly as Assistant General Manager and Gerald Madkins as Vice President of Player Personnel today. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

“Tim and Gerald are very well respected people in the NBA as two of the top, young talents in the league,” said Hornets General Manager Dell Demps. “Tim has a keen eye on international talent and has been a key asset to the Wizards basketball operations department for the last decade. Gerald has a wealth of experience in this league as a player and in scouting roles. We are excited and fortunate to be adding them to our staff.”

Connelly comes to the Hornets from the Washington Wizards where he most recently served as the Director of Player Personnel. Connelly’s recent roles at the Wizards as Director of Player Personnel including head scouting, salary cap and database management, player evaluation responsibilities, as well as assisting Tommy Sheppard, the Vice President of Player Personnel, with all front office duties.

The Baltimore native has traveled to five continents to identify top talent in the basketball world. Well-known both internationally and domestically in basketball circles, Connelly enjoyed a rapid ascent in the Wizards organization.

Connelly began working for the Wizards as an intern in the basketball operations department in 1996, and after his graduation from DC’s Catholic University in 1999, Connelly was named to the Wizards scouting staff as Assistant Video Coordinator. In 2000, Connelly became a full-time scout for Washington, and later assumed the head scouting role.

Connelly’s service to the game of basketball has spanned the globe in recent years. During the summer of 2006, Connelly served as a coach for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa, as well as at the Seed Academy in Dakar, Senegal. In the summer of 2007, Connelly visited Dublin, Ireland to help raise youth awareness of cultural diversity and integration through the sport of basketball, and to work with the Irish federation on future basketball related initiatives. More recently, with his brother and Wizards scout Pat, Connelly visited England in his personal efforts to aid the globalization of basketball.

A graduate of Towson Catholic High School, Connelly has aspirations to further his involvement in grass-roots basketball programs in his hometown of Baltimore. One of seven children and five brothers, each of Connelly’s brothers — Joe, Pat, Daniel and Kevin — played basketball at Towson Catholic; the powerhouse Baltimore program. Joe is currently a coach and teacher at Baltimore Freedom Academy; Pat is employed as a scout with the Wizards and Daniel works as an assistant coach at Princeton.

Madkins comes to the Hornets from the Houston Rockets where for the last two seasons served as the Director of Scouting. At the Rockets, Madkins was responsible for scouting colleges and developmental leagues. The UCLA product served as the Director of West Coast College Scouting for the Seattle SuperSonics during the 2007-08 season and as a scout for the New York Knicks from 2003-07.

The Merced, California native served as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at his alma mater, UCLA, from 2001-03 and at California State University from 2000-01.

After a stellar playing career with the Bruins during college, Madkins began an eight-year professional career in 1992 that included stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Grand Rapids, Rockford), NBA (Cleveland, Miami and Golden State), Spanish Basketball League (Joventut Badelona) and French Basketball League (Pitch Cholet). He was named the 1993 CBA Rookie of the Year.

Hornets hire Randy Ayers and Fred Vinson as assistant coaches

The New Orleans Hornets announced the hiring of assistant coaches Randy Ayers and Fred Vinson today, completing first-year head coach Monty Williams’ staff. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

Williams’ coaching staff stands at Mike Malone, who will serve as the lead assistant, Bryan Gates, James Borrego, Ayers and Vinson.

“Randy and Fred will bring a wealth of experience to our staff,” said Hornets Head Coach Monty Williams. “Randy is an experienced coach both on the collegiate and professional level. He brings many tools that will help strengthen our coaching staff and will be able to assist our players on a variety of levels. Fred’s experience, particularly with the Clippers, will be instrumental in helping the younger players as they adjust to the NBA.”

Ayers holds a strong track record as an assistant and head coach in college and the NBA. He served as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2003-04 season posting a 21-31 record. Prior to his head coaching job in Philadelphia, Ayers served as an assistant coach for the 76ers for five seasons (1998-2003). As the top assistant under Head Coach Larry Brown, Ayers helped guide Philadelphia to five consecutive playoff appearances, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2001.

The Springfield, Ohio native has also served as an assistant coach in the NBA for the Orlando Magic (2004-2006), the Washington Wizards (2007-09) and again for the 76ers during the 2009-10 season.

Ayers began his coaching career by serving as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Miami University (Ohio) for two seasons. He then served as an assistant for two seasons at West Point before moving on to Ohio State. At Columbus, Ayers spent six seasons as an assistant coach before landing his first head coaching job at the Ohio State University. In his eight seasons with the Buckeyes, Ayers spearheaded teams that earned two consecutive No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, while also winning the National Coach of the Year honor by the Associated Press in 1991 and the Big Ten Coach of the Year award in 1991 and 1992.

Ayers was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, but was cut from the team without ever playing professionally. He has been married for the last 27 years to his wife, Carol. Randy and Carol have two sons, Ryan and Cameron. Ryan played basketball at Notre Dame and graduated in 2009. Cameron, who will begin his freshman year at Bucknell this fall and will play basketball for the Bison.

Vinson, a Georgia Tech graduate, had been an assistant for the L.A. Clippers since 2007. During his time with L.A., he also served as the Director of Player Programs in those years, mentoring younger players to ease their transition in life in the NBA.

Born on Jan. 28, 1971, Vinson played parts of the 1994-95 and 1999-2000 seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and Seattle SuperSonics, tallying career averages of 1.3 points and 5.2 minutes per game. Vinson also averaged 3.3 points per game for the Clippers during the 2005-06 NBA preseason. He was also a member of the 2002-03 CBA champions Yakima Sun Kings, coached by former Portland Trail Blazer coach Bill Bayno. Vinson also played for SLUC Nancy, in Nancy, France during the 2003-04 season.

Reports of Chris Paul courtship draws memo from NBA

ESPN.com reports:

The NBA issued an unexpected, leaguewide memorandum to its teams Tuesday to remind them about tampering regulations and specifically warn them about illegal contact with Chris Paul.

ESPN.com learned that the memo spells out that “no team should be having communications with Chris Paul or his agent or representative about a potential trade for Paul that have not been authorized in advance by the New Orleans Hornets.” …

The memo, sources said, also threatens penalties for any such communications that could potentially include “suspension of the offending person, prohibition of the offending team from hiring the person being tampered with, forfeiture of draft picks and individual and/or team fines of up to $5 million.”

Hornets hire Dell Demps as GM

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that Dell Demps has been named General Manager. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. Demps becomes the seventh general manager in team history.

“Through our extensive research with a number of GM candidates, Dell shined through as a rising star from a program in San Antonio that has a tremendous history of building a franchise into a championship contender,” said Hornets President Hugh Weber. “Beginning with the hiring of Head Coach Monty Williams, we’ve begun a path of building our basketball operations with people we feel are going to be the best in the business, and Dell Demps certainly fits into that category. Our owners Mr. Shinn and Mr. Chouest both feel confident that we are developing our organization in a way that will raise expectations. Dell along with Monty share a lot of the same philosophies and work ethic that will help lead our franchise to the next level.”

Demps has spent the last five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, serving as Director of Pro Player Personnel. In addition, he served as the General Manager of the Austin Toros (the Spurs NBA Development affiliate) for three years. The Spurs captured an NBA Championship and two Southwest Division titles during Demps’ five seasons in San Antonio. In addition, the Spurs have won at least 50 games in each of those five seasons.

“I have been fortunate to know Dell for a long time and we share a lot of the same beliefs,” said Hornets Head Coach Monty Williams. “He wants and has a great basketball pedigree, learning from some of the best minds in the business. Dell is a winner, hard worker and does things the right way. He will be a great asset to this organization.”

Demps, born in Long Beach, Calif., had a three-year NBA career with Golden State, Orlando and the Spurs. He was teammates with Williams in San Antonio during the 1995-96 season. Demps also spent time playing in the Philippines, France, Greece, Turkey, Croatia and the CBA during his 10-year professional career.

“Dell Demps is a highly respected basketball person who has been around a model organization in San Antonio,” said Hornets Owner George Shinn. “Gary and I both have the goal to be a great organization and work towards a championship. Dell is the right guy for this position and the future is bright for the New Orleans Hornets.”

Once his playing days were done, Demps spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Mobile Revelers in the NBA D-League, helping the Revelers capture the 2003 D-League Championship. He joined the New York Knicks as a scout for the 2003-04 season and was promoted to Director of Pro Player Personnel following the 2004-05 season in New York before joining the Spurs in the fall of 2005.

“From the moment I spoke to Hugh and Monty about this opportunity, I could tell something special was building within the organization,” said Demps. “I am excited for this opportunity because the Hornets are a great organization with a lot of positive pieces. I would like to thank George, Gary, and Hugh for their faith in me and am truly looking forward to also working with Monty.”

“We are all very excited for this opportunity for Dell and his family,” said Spurs General Manager RC Buford. “Having worked closely with both Dell and Monty, I’m confident that they will provide great leadership to the Hornets franchise. Dell has been a trusted confidant and an integral part of our organization. While we will all miss him, we are thrilled for Dell and wish him success in New Orleans.”

Demps, 40, was a four-year starter at University of the Pacific, earning All-Big West honors three times. He earned both his bachelor and master’s degrees in business administration from Pacific and is a member of Pacific’s School of Business Advisory Board.

Hornets president: No infighting between owners

The AP reports:

New Orleans Hornets team president Hugh Weber said Tuesday that the slow pace of the club’s planned ownership change has no bearing on the franchise’s ability to make key changes aimed at building a winner around star guard Chris Paul.

Any perception that the Hornets are shrouded in uncertainty, Weber said, stemmed from little more than typical NBA “gamesmanship” on the part of other NBA clubs looking for an advantage in signing free agents or hiring general manager candidates that New Orleans also is pursuing.

“I’m totally aware of the gamesmanship that happens in this league,” Weber said. “We do have an owner. It’s the same uncertainty as a year ago or two years ago, which is no uncertainty.”

InsideHoops.com editor says:

I haven’t looked into the ownership stuff and therefore won’t comment on it. But as for the Hornets as a basketball team, they have a ton of talent in the backcourt but need to find a small forward worthy of starting. And, they must figure out how to mesh the talents of David West and Emeka Okafor, because the two should have been a more potent combination last season. Okafor provided very little offensively, barely scoring and getting almost no assists, so it’s mostly on him.

Hornets re-sign Aaron Gray

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have re-signed center Aaron Gray. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

The 7-0, 270-pound Gray is a three-year NBA veteran with career averages of 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.0 minutes over 149 career games (19 starts) with the Chicago Bulls and Hornets. The Pittsburgh product was selected by the Bulls in the second round (49th overall) of the 2007 NBA draft. Gray was acquired last season by the Hornets on January 25 from the Bulls in exchange for guard Devin Brown. In 24 games with the Hornets last season, Gray averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 10.9 minutes.

InsideHoops.com editor says: He’s big.

Hornets withdraw contract offer to Luther Head

John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports:

The New Orleans Hornets will not offer free agent shooting guard Luther Head a contract because he had some physical issues during his physical examination that was a concern of the Hornets’ medical staff. league sources said Wednesday.

Earlier this week Head and the Hornets had agreed to a two-year contract that was contingent on him passing his physical. Sources said the decision not to offer Head a contract did not have anything to do with general manager Jeff Bower and the Hornets mutually agreeing to part ways on Tuesday.

Hornets, GM Jeff Bower part ways

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that the organization and Jeff Bower have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately. A search for a general manager is already underway.

“We feel it is in the best interest for us and Jeff to part ways at this time.” said Hornets President Hugh Weber. “Our search for a new general manager is already underway. We will target basketball minds that are highly respected in the basketball circles and someone that will help in our pursuit of building a championship team.”

Bower spent 14-plus seasons with the club, serving various scouting, coaching and general manager positions. He served as general manager from 2001-2003 and was re-appointed general manager at the start of the 2005-06 season. Bower took over the head coaching role this past season on November 12 after the Hornets relieved Byron Scott of head coach duties. He guided the Hornets to a 34-39 record (.466) last season.

“I want to thank Jeff for all his service for our organization,” said Hornets Owner George Shinn. “Gary Chouest and I have the necessary resources and will continue to do what it takes this summer to make our team better. Under the new leadership of Monty Williams, our team president Hugh Weber and our new general manager we feel very positive about our future as an organization.”