fevertrees
12-21-2010, 03:46 PM
"The Hornets recently made a significant trade, sending Peja Stokjakovic and Jerryd Bayless to the Toronto Raptors in a move that landed Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks and a $9.6 million Traded Player Exception (TPE) in New Orleans. That cost savings allowed former owner George Shinn to avoid bankruptcy, and the resulting defaults on a number of loans"
A Franchise In Turmoil - Part II
Last week HOOPSWORLD sat down with New Orleans Hornets President Hugh Weber to talk about the jeopardy his team is in as the NBA takes over temporary ownership of the club. From his point of view, the league's move saved the Hornets from leaving New Orleans, at least for now. Be sure you check out that story, in case you missed it.
Weber gave us the scoop on the business side of the situation in New Orleans, but the business side has a significant impact on the basketball side, as well. To talk about the many ways in which the ownership picture affects the team, we sat down for a lengthy conversation with general manager Dell Demps. The first part of that conversation makes up the second part of our ongoing coverage of the uncertain situation in New Orleans.
The Hornets recently made a significant trade, sending Peja Stokjakovic and Jerryd Bayless to the Toronto Raptors in a move that landed Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks and a $9.6 million Traded Player Exception (TPE) in New Orleans. For more on the intricate details of what really was a brilliant trade, check out Larry Coon's story on the deal here!
"I thought it was a situation where both teams benefited," says Demps. "That's the ideal situation in any trade, that both teams benefit. It was a tough trade to make because Jerryd was playing well and he's continuing to play well in Toronto. The opportunity to bring in a guy like Jarrett who can play with Chris really appealed to us, and we feel he can play some one and some two, as well. We also looked at it as a way to create some flexibility moving forward. We were able to acquire a Traded Player Exception that opens up opportunities for us. We're hoping to maximize those opportunities, but we'll see."
As much as things are changing on the ownership front, so far the long-term plan Demps, Weber and new head coach Monty Williams mapped out this summer is still proceeding according to plan.
"When we sat down over the summer, Hugh Weber, Monty, myself, we came up with a vision and a plan of how we were going to operate. We're staying that course right now. Part of that plan includes deviations and opportunities that you have to react to. When we first started, ownership was in line with the plan. When the new ownership came, we presented the plan, they liked it, and we're going to stick to it. For us, so far, it's business as usual."
The Hornets got off to a great start, one of the best in team history, and rocketed to the top of the Western Conference standings before falling on hard times more recently.
"We were playing well, and especially playing very good defense. I think we have a decent core with David West, Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, and then we added some guys who were really playing well early. We're going to have to hang our hat on our defense. I think it all starts with your core guys. When your core guys buy into your system, the rest of the team will follow. It's a credit to Chris, David and Emeka because these are the guys that were already here. When you ask people to change, change can be hard. They've jumped right into Coach's system and haven't fought it at all. They believe in the system. From the day we walked into the door we said we're going to be a defensive team and those guys got right on board."
As much as Demps was cautiously optimistic about his team's early success, he is equally cautious in his approach to their current woes, having won just three of their last seven games.
"You know, I think that the West is really competitive and anything can happen right now," says Demps. "I don't think we've established ourselves enough where we can go on cruise control. We have to maintain our culture of playing defense and hope that we can stay healthy. We have a schedule over the next few weeks where we play two games on the road, two games at home, two games on the road, two games at home, and it's a time where hopefully we can stop being so inconsistent and get where we're hoping to be."
Tomorrow we'll continue our conversation with Demps, in which he talks about the next move he hopes to make and the culture change he and his team have brought to the Hornets.
A Franchise In Turmoil - Part II
Last week HOOPSWORLD sat down with New Orleans Hornets President Hugh Weber to talk about the jeopardy his team is in as the NBA takes over temporary ownership of the club. From his point of view, the league's move saved the Hornets from leaving New Orleans, at least for now. Be sure you check out that story, in case you missed it.
Weber gave us the scoop on the business side of the situation in New Orleans, but the business side has a significant impact on the basketball side, as well. To talk about the many ways in which the ownership picture affects the team, we sat down for a lengthy conversation with general manager Dell Demps. The first part of that conversation makes up the second part of our ongoing coverage of the uncertain situation in New Orleans.
The Hornets recently made a significant trade, sending Peja Stokjakovic and Jerryd Bayless to the Toronto Raptors in a move that landed Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks and a $9.6 million Traded Player Exception (TPE) in New Orleans. For more on the intricate details of what really was a brilliant trade, check out Larry Coon's story on the deal here!
"I thought it was a situation where both teams benefited," says Demps. "That's the ideal situation in any trade, that both teams benefit. It was a tough trade to make because Jerryd was playing well and he's continuing to play well in Toronto. The opportunity to bring in a guy like Jarrett who can play with Chris really appealed to us, and we feel he can play some one and some two, as well. We also looked at it as a way to create some flexibility moving forward. We were able to acquire a Traded Player Exception that opens up opportunities for us. We're hoping to maximize those opportunities, but we'll see."
As much as things are changing on the ownership front, so far the long-term plan Demps, Weber and new head coach Monty Williams mapped out this summer is still proceeding according to plan.
"When we sat down over the summer, Hugh Weber, Monty, myself, we came up with a vision and a plan of how we were going to operate. We're staying that course right now. Part of that plan includes deviations and opportunities that you have to react to. When we first started, ownership was in line with the plan. When the new ownership came, we presented the plan, they liked it, and we're going to stick to it. For us, so far, it's business as usual."
The Hornets got off to a great start, one of the best in team history, and rocketed to the top of the Western Conference standings before falling on hard times more recently.
"We were playing well, and especially playing very good defense. I think we have a decent core with David West, Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, and then we added some guys who were really playing well early. We're going to have to hang our hat on our defense. I think it all starts with your core guys. When your core guys buy into your system, the rest of the team will follow. It's a credit to Chris, David and Emeka because these are the guys that were already here. When you ask people to change, change can be hard. They've jumped right into Coach's system and haven't fought it at all. They believe in the system. From the day we walked into the door we said we're going to be a defensive team and those guys got right on board."
As much as Demps was cautiously optimistic about his team's early success, he is equally cautious in his approach to their current woes, having won just three of their last seven games.
"You know, I think that the West is really competitive and anything can happen right now," says Demps. "I don't think we've established ourselves enough where we can go on cruise control. We have to maintain our culture of playing defense and hope that we can stay healthy. We have a schedule over the next few weeks where we play two games on the road, two games at home, two games on the road, two games at home, and it's a time where hopefully we can stop being so inconsistent and get where we're hoping to be."
Tomorrow we'll continue our conversation with Demps, in which he talks about the next move he hopes to make and the culture change he and his team have brought to the Hornets.