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.

SG/SF James Posey is out indefinately with a Achilles problem. This will hurt the Hornets some as the bench is pretty thin now due to the recent trades of Devin Brown, Bobby Brown and Hilton Armstrong. Posey has played in 45 games (2 starts) for the Hornets this season and he is averaging 22.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. His shooting has been way off this season as he is only hitting 37.7% of his shots from the floor and 34% from three point range. Look for the starters to play more minutes for the Hornets until Posey returns to action because Julian Wright still appears to be in the Dog House.

The Hornets have traded 25-year old SG/PG Bobby Brown to the Clippers for a conditional 2nd round pick. Brown played in 22 games (0 starts) for the Hornets this season and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 6.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on 39.5% shooting from the floor. The Hornets have enough depth at guard to pick up for not having Brown and this trade likely gets them under the luxury tax.

The Hornets have traded 31-year old shooting guard Devin Brown to the Bulls for 25-year old center Aaron Gray. Brown played in 39 games (37 starts) for the Hornets this season and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 9.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game on 39.4% shooting from the floor. Rookie Marcus Thornton will replace Brown in the starting line-up. Thornton has played in 37 games (0 starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 18.6 minutes, 9.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on 42.4% shooting from the floor. Aaron Gray will serve as Emeka Okafor’s back-up center. He played in only 8 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he was averaging 6.3 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Gray was only shooting 38.1% from the floor and 28.6% from the free throw line this year. He has now played in 215 games (19 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 11.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Gray has made 49% of his shots from the floor in his career and 55.8% of his free throws.

The Hornets have traded 25-year old center Hilton Armstrong and cash to the Kings for a conditional second round pick. Armstrong played in 18 games (0 starts) this year for the Hornets and he averaged 13.3 minutes, 2.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He finishes his career with the Hornets having played in 209 games (37 starts) in which he averaged 12.9 minutes, 3.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. This trade was made to save the Hornets from paying the luxury tax and little else.

The Hornets will be without back-up center Sean Marks indefinitely with a strained muscle in his lower leg. Marks has played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Hornets this season and he is averaging 7.6 minutes, 1.0 point, 4.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Hornets won’t miss Marks too much as he is the #3 center on the team.

The Hornets will be without starting point guard Chris Paul for at least two weeks with a severely sprained left ankle. Paul has played in 10 games (all starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 34.0 minutes, 23.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Paul was the player the Hornets could least afford to lose on this team because he’s the guy that makes everything go. Rookie Darren Collison will likely replace Paul in the starting lineup and that’s a lot to ask of a rookie. Collison has played in 6 games (0 starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 6.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He does have a nice upside but he will have a lot of pressure on him to produce right away. Veteran Bobby Brown will also likely see a bump in playing time with Paul out of action. Brown has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Hornets so far this season and he is averaging 17.6 minutes, 7.9 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The Hornets have to hope that Paul makes a real quick recovery.

The Hornets have fired head coach Byron Scott. Scott was just not getting the job done for the Hornets this season who were off to a very disappointing 3-6 start to the year. Scott coached parts of six years for the Hornets compiling a regular season record of 203-216 (48.4%) and he was 8-9 (47.1%) in the post season with the Hornets. The Hornets will replace Scott with general manager Jeff Bower who has never been a head coach in the NBA. He will lean heavily on Tim Floyd who will be his top assistant. This will be interesting to watch as the Hornets have a very talented roster.

22-year old Julian Wright has apparently beaten out 32-year old Peja Stojakovic for the starting job at small forward to begin the season. Wright played in 54 games for the Hornets last season and he averaged 14.3 minutes, 4.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Wright has a huge upside as he is a very athletic player. Peja Stojakovic will still get a lot of playing time this season splitting his time between small forward and shooting guard. Stojakovic played in 61 games last season for the Hornets and he averaged 34.2 minutes, 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. 32-year old James Posey is also back this season and he brings instant offense off the bench. He played in 75 games for the Hornets last season and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B

28-year old seven foot center Earl Barron will be in training camp with the New Orleans Hornets trying to win a spot on the roster. He played played in the NBA in 2007-08 with the Miami Heat. Barron has played in 82 games (15 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 13.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He should have a good chance of making the Hornets’ roster.

UPDATE: Earl Barron has been released by the Hornets.