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 SF 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.

The Hornets have signed 38-year old Monty Williams to a 3-year deal to be the new head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. He has a lot of winning in his background. He started coaching with the Spurs in 2004-05 and they won the NBA Championship that year. Williams then went on to be a assistant with the Portland Trailblazers from 2005-06 to 2009-10. I think Williams will do a good job for the Hornets as he hopefully learned well under Gregg Popovich and Nate McMillan.

The Hornets might have up to 5 free agents this summer. Peja Stojakovic and Darius Songaila both have early termination options on their contracts. Stojakovic isn’t going anywhere but Songailia might leave as he might be able to get more minutes and money from another team. Ike Diogu and Sean Marks might also be leaving town this summer. Aaron Gray is a restricted free agent but the Hornets like him so they will likely match any reasonable offer for him.

The Hornets have lost starting small forward Peja Stojakovic for the next 2-4 weeks due to a abdominal strain. Stojakovic has played in 62 games (55 starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 31.4 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. The Hornets will likely get Julian Wright out of mothballs and put him into the starting lineup. Wright has played in 53 games (8 starts) for the Hornets this season and he is averaging 11.4 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. The Hornets will also likely use rookie Marcus Thornton some at shooting guard the rest of the year to help cushion the loss of Stojakovic.

The New Orleans Hornets’ star point guard Chris Paul has missed 12 straight games with a knee injury, but the Hornets have still  been getting great production from the point guard position.  That is because CP3′s rookie back-up, Darren Collison, is playing some great basketball for the Hornets.  Since Paul’s injury, Collison has stepped in as the starting point guard for the Hornets and in the 12 games without Paul he is averaging 20.5 points, 9.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and is shooting 48% from the field and 35% from three.  Those numbers are very close to the season averages Paul had before his injury:  20.4 points, 11.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 50% FG, and 42% from three.  The Hornets are 5-7 in Paul’s absence, but they should be happy with that record as most expected the Hornets to completely fall apart without their superstar.  Collison is proving he can be a great point guard in this league and Chris Paul doesn’t have to worry about rushing back from injury.  That being said, Paul still makes the Hornets a much better team and Collison may not be able to continue playing at such a high level, especially since he is just a rookie.

The Hornets have signed 31-year old point guard Jason Hart to a 10-day contract. Hart played in 1 game earlier this season for the T-Wolves in which he played 5 minutes, had 1 assist and 1 steal. Hart has now played in 337 games (56 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 15.6 minutes, 4.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. This was a smart move by the Hornets to bring in a veteran hand to work behind Darren Collison until Chris Paul is ready to return to action.

The Hornets will be without all-world point guard Chris Paul for the next 4-8 weeks as he will have surgery soon to repair torn cartilaga in his left knee. Paul has played in 38 games (all starts) for the Hornets this season and he is averaging 38.7 minutes, 20.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 11.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is also shooting well from everywhere on the floor hitting 50.4% from the floor, 40.2% from three point range and 86.2% from the free throw line. The Hornets are 26-21 on the season and they are tied for the 8th spot in the conference right now with the Thunder. It will be up to rookie Darren Collison to keep the Hornets in the playoff race.