re: Which FA's Will The Hornets Sign This Off Season?

I might be alone in this boat, but the thought of Paul back with the Hornets makes me sick. He left when times got hard and for that it would be hard to accept him back for me. I just don't see him coming back. What type of man leaves when times are rough and comes back when their on the upswing?

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Doesn't really matter whether the Hornets are title contenders or not, what matters is if they're his best option. If he decides the Clippers are out and Dwight stays with the Lakers, the Hornets may well be his best option.

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This might sound crazy, but his best option might be the Bobcats. If they amnesty Thomas, they will have room to sign two max guys. They have a good foundational group (MKG, Taylor and Mullens), like the Hornets. They would have a few trade pieces (Walker- who might be the most improved player this year, Henderson, Bismack and Gordon's expiring contract). If the draft breaks right, they could have 3 first round picks and the biggest factor.. Jordan. This could be the momment he uses all his influence to pull a couple of major free agents.

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I might be alone in this boat, but the thought of Paul back with the Hornets makes me sick. He left when times got hard and for that it would be hard to accept him back for me. I just don't see him coming back. What type of man leaves when times are rough and comes back when their on the upswing?

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could not agree with you more...

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He left when times got hard

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The New Orleans Hornets didn't have an owner when he left. Think about that for a second. And the guy re-signed with the Hornets when we were a promising young(ish) organization with DWest and TC. I have my qualms with CP3, but his priority is winning a championship (well, behind $, not saying he'll go play for the Heat for the MLE or something). And I truly believe that he likes NOLA. Not saying he'd prefer NOLA over NYC or LA, but if he thought he could win a championship here and get a max deal, he would be happy to come back.

On that note, I put his odds of being a Hornet next season at around 5%. Wouldn't be my life against it, but it would certainly surprise me. If Gordon and Davis get healthy, the Hornets make the playoffs, and they're competitive in the first round despite being young as frick, those odds go up to 15-20%. Seriously, you can't get a much better group of complimentary players for CP3. A 20ppg SG that can defend and create his own shot (something he's never had in the NBA), a Peja type player that actually adds another element (Ryno + rebounding), and the best young prospect since Lebron/a guy that he assraped the world with in the Olympics, trossing alley oops to left and right. With Wade breaking down, OKC trading Harden away, and Amare being a poon, that has potential to be the best big 3 in the NBA, and Ryno would probably blow away any other "4th best player on the team" in the NBA.

I don't think anyone can deny that CP3 + a healthy EG + (an even better) Davis + Ryno + a solid bench (Vasquez, Smiht, hopefully an improved Rivers) would make up for a team that could compete for a championship. Better than Miami/OKC? Probably not, but that team is insanely young and would only get better as long as they're together.

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what are the chances of Gordon playing a full season?

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Slim, but if he comes back, plays well, and doesn't miss more than 2 or 3 games over the last 60, that's going to give people a lot more confidence in him. I really think that this current team can fight for a playoff spot if healthy. That despite being one of the youngest teams in the NBA (2nd youngest behind Houston, IIRC). That makes it an attractive team for FA's that want to win.

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Davis is great, but he's played for all of 10 nba games

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Understood, but he had huge hype coming into the NBA, played VERY well in the Olympics against some legit competition, and is 4th in the NBA in PER right now despite not even being close to his potential. If the Hornets were to make the playoffs (as is the case in my hypothetical), it would take Davis continuing his current level of play, if not improving on it. He really does have all signs pointing towards his being the next KG type player.

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What were the legitimate responses in this thread?

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Given that we only picked up Vasquez's option and not Aminu's or Henry's:

What we can offer really depends on whether we keep Lopez. Keep him and we come up a bit short of a CP3 type max deal (though we can easily afford a lower level max deal like EG's $14m/yr). Let him go and we can afford anyone available (CP3, Bynum, Josh Smith, Dwight Howard, Iggy).

CP3/Dwight are assured ubermax contracts. Bynum/Smith(don't want)/Iggy(yes please) are still possible if we keep Lopez.

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Last I had heard was after this past offseason since we didn't sign anyone major we still could afford a Max type player to go along with EG and Davis.

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Thrill laid it out pretty well. If the Hornets dump Lopez they will be about $20 million under the current cap, and some people have predicted the cap could rise so they might have even more money to play with. Gordon needs to get healthy though, no star is going to want to come and play with $14 million of dead cap space.