First, let me get this out of the way:  CP3 is signing an extension!  It hasn't been decided on if it's three years or five years – and there are financial reasons he would like either that I won't get into here – but the fact remains, he's in New Orleans for at least 4 more years.  There had been rumors scuttling about that he might be willing to bolt to join LeBron in the near future, but this pretty much squashes those.  Can't say I'm not extremely happy with the news, I didn't really believe those rumors, but they do like to lurk.

So . . . YAY!

Moving on.  In order for the Clippers to bring Baron and Brand on board, it will become necessary for them to renounce their rights to Corey Maggette.  The impact?  No trades can be made with the Clippers to pick up Maggette, because they no longer have the rights to sign him for more than the salary cap allows.

This means the Hornets can now only go after him by using the Mid-Level Exception, and already I've seen reports that the Celtics, Spurs, and a couple other teams are preparing to make that offer to him.  That's tough competition.

It may be a moot point, however.  I haven't seen any confirmed reports that the Hornets are pursuing Maggette at all.

The only free agents the Hornets appear to be targeting at this time are James Posey and Jannero Pargo. 

Posey is of course getting lots of interest around the league.   From all reports, he's willing to settle for the Mid-Level Exception, but he's already rejected a preliminary offer by the Celtics that was deemed too short.  It seems we'd need to give him the full Mid-Level for 5 years, which would mean he'd be collecting 7 mil at age 36.  Hmm.

Pargo has said he wants to return to the Hornets, but the Nuggets, Nets, and Jazz have also reached out to him in Free Agency.  Of course, those contacts are all reported by Mark Bartelstein, Pargo's agent, so you have to take that information with a grain of salt.

I'm still wondering though, what big man the Hornets are targeting.  There's been a lot of rumblings in the organization that they have one in mind, but no reports have surfaced that I've seen.  Diop appears to be off the market already – going to Dallas.  Turiaf is restricted.  Najera has said he wants the same amount he made last year.(When he was overpaid) Chris Andersen has been brought in by the Celtics to work out for them.  Hope something surfaces soon.

I'll keep these updates going as long as new information appears.