Front Office Trouble in N.O.

The New Orleans Hornets and GM Jeff Bower have decided to part ways, according to SI. Bower had run the show in N.O. since 2005. He had the unenviable task of pleasing franchise PG Chris Paul under a tight budget. However, this tight budget was his fault as he made a number of curious signings in his tenure. In 2006, he signed a declining Peja Stojakovic to a 5-year, $62 mil contract. 29 years old at the time of the signing, Stojakovic's skills were already deteriorating. Last year he was paid $13 mil to average 12.6 pts/game, and this year he will enjoy paychecks totaling $14,256,000. Eek.

In another of Bower's underwhelming moves, last summer he traded defensive minded C Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for Defensive minded C Emeka Okafor. Chandler's contract expires this upcoming season while Okafor has 4 years and $53 mil left. That's a lot to pay someone who will only put up 10/10.

In 2008, Bower signed NBA Champion and glue-guy James Posey to a 4 year contract worth the full Mid Level Exception (worth about $24 mil, and owner George Shinn doesn't have to pay the luxury tax on it). At the time of signing Posey was 31 years old and was never going to be worth $24 mil. This year he averaged 5 pts/game. Oof. No wonder Chris Paul is disgruntled.

However, Bower has made some prudent draft picks. In 2009, he selected PG Darren Collison in the first round and SG Marcus Thornton in the second. Collison was so good that there has been rumors that Chris Paul might be on the block. Thornton had a fabulous rookie season (especially for a second rounder), averaging 14.5 pts/game, and over 20 pts/game in March and April.

Last month, Monty Williams was hired as coach. It remains to be seen how long he will last. Normally, new GMs like to hire their own coaches.

If you ask me, I think N.O. should go ahead and trade CP3. Collison will be a solid PG for years to come. They should look into trading CP3 to Indiana for Danny Granger and a prospect (Hansbrough?). The Pacers are desperate for a PG and Granger is a high-scoring wing man who would complement Collison, David West, and Okafor very well.