On one hand the Hornets say that they will not trade Chris Paul. On the other hand they say they would trade Paul as long as the other team takes back center Emeka Okafor too. It’s no mystery that the owner of the Hornets is in financial trouble and that could lead to them trading some veterans. Darren Collison did step up last season while Paul was injured but it’s quite another animal to replace him forever. I did think the Hornets pulled off a good trade on draft day when they moved center Cole Aldrich and veteran forward Morris Peterson to the Thunder for rookie forwards Craig Brackins and Quincy Pondexter who both have nice upsides. It will be interesting to see if the Hornets can pare payroll while still competing. It’s a fine line to walk.

33-year old small forward Peja Stojakovic is opting in for the 2010-11 season for the New Orleans Hornets. He would have been insane to opt out as he is due to make $15.34 million bucks this season. Stojakovic’s play slipped a little bit last season for the Hornets. He played in 62 games (55 starts) for the Hornets last season and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Stojakovic has now played in 212 games (204 starts) in his four years with the Hornets and he has averaged 33.8 minutes, 14.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Hornets hope Stojakovic has something left seeing how they are on the hook to him for big bucks.

The Hornets have acquired PF/SF Craig Brackins (#21 overall) and SG Quincy Pondexter (#26 overall) to complete the Cole Aldrich/Morris Peterson trade with the Thunder. Brackins is a big guy at 6′10″, 230 pounds but he will need to play tougher in the NBA. Brackins played in 32 games (all starts) last season at Iowa State and he averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. He played in 96 games (95 starts) in his three years in college and he averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Quincy Pondexter played in 36 games (all starts) last season at Washington and he averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He finished up in college having played in 136 games (102 starts) in which he averaged 13.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. The Hornets have a good track record in the draft so this could turn out to be a outstanding trade for them. Only time will tell.

The Hornets picked center Cole Aldrich out of Kansas with the 11th overall pick and then they traded him along with 32-year old small forward Morris Peterson to the Thunder for the 21st and 26th overall picks in the NBA Draft. Peterson played in 46 games (39 starts) for the Hornets last season and he averaged 21.2 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. In his three years with the Hornets, Peterson played in 165 games (124 starts) in which he averaged 19.9 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. This was little more than a salary dump move for the Hornets as Aldrich and Peterson will make a lot more money in 2010-11 than whoever the Hornets use their two first round picks on.

32-year old PF Darius Songaila has exercised his player option for the 2010-11 season allowing him to return to the Hornets. Songaila played in 75 games (1 start) for the Hornets last season and he averaged 18.8 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He has now played in 485 games (79 starts) in his seven years in the NBA and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Hornets probably could have used the money elsewhere but Songaila is a decent backup forward.