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It looks like Demps has decided on New Orleans if you believe this:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5397107
Updated: July 20, 2010, 11:52 PM ETSources: Hornets to hire Demps as GMEmail Print Comments1 By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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The New Orleans Hornets have fought off the Phoenix Suns to land San Antonio's Dell Demps as their next general manager.
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Demps and the Hornets reached an agreement in principle Tuesday night on a deal that will install the Spurs' vice president of basketball operations as Jeff Bower's replacement.
Sources said the Hornets came out of the weekend confident that Demps wanted to come to New Orleans, where he and former Spurs teammate Monty Williams will work together as GM and coach.
But New Orleans had to weather a strong push from the Phoenix Suns, who interviewed Demps on Monday as scheduled and offered him a job to work as the lead personnel voice under new Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby in a restructured front office.
Demps stayed overnight at the house of Suns owner Robert Sarver, sources said, as part of Phoenix's attempt to lure the 40-year-old out of the Hornets' clutches and gave the Suns' offer serious consideration Tuesday before ultimately committing to the Hornets.
Demps has been in close contact with Hornets officials since emerging as the favorite late last week after a series of meetings with Hornets president Hugh Weber and Williams, who had quickly become the highest-ranking basketball voice in the organization before coaching his first game in New Orleans after Bower's dismissal last week.
The Suns' situation is clearly more stable, given the mounting uncertainty about New Orleans' pending ownership transfer from George Shinn to minority partner Gary Chouest, as well as the increasingly difficult time the Hornets have faced trying to keep star point guard Chris Paul happy.
In New Orleans, though, Demps and Williams will undoubtedly try to replicate as much of the successful San Antonio culture as they can, since both have closely studied under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and team president R.C. Buford.
In Phoenix, Sarver and Babby are expected to hire at least one veteran basketball executive to help ease Babby's transition from the agent world, with Milwaukee Bucks executive Jeff Weltman frequently mentioned as a prime candidate.
The Hornets interviewed a number of candidates during the NBA's annual summer league in Las Vegas, including former Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard, Washington Wizards executive Tommy Sheppard, former Suns executive David Griffin and former Sacramento Kings assistant general manager Jason Levien.
Denver Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman -- who was the first player drafted in franchise history in 1988 when the team was still in Charlotte -- was also on New Orleans' list. But the Hornets, having been apprised that Chapman is happy in Denver, had not yet requested permission to interview him as of Friday.
Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.
