David Aldridge’s NBA.com off-season evaluation of the Hornets drew some  unhappy commentary from our readers.  Like the comments, I’m not really a fan of his take on the Hornets, but there were a couple lines in there that made me grin:

GM Jeff Bower keeps his own counsel . . . Quiet, but good. That’s Bower.

Yes. That’s Jeff Bower.  Over the last four years, there has been one truth about Bower:  He doesn’t say much – or leak anything.  When Bower signed Peja, there were no pundits who were predicting it.  Bower traded for Chandler, and there wasn’t any speculation of Chandler to the Hornets before it happened.  Bower signed West to an extension – and the media hadn’t even reported negotations were ongoing.  Bower traded Mike James for Antonio Daniels and moved Chandler for Okafor, and the media had the story only a very brief time before the move happened.  According to Bower, he had been exploring the Okafor trade for weeks with Charlotte, as every major news outlet could only re-iterate how inactive he was, and how the poor Hornets fans could only expect their team to fall apart and Paul to move on.

I tried to think of some trades or transactions that could have happened or did happen that had some fanfare and leaks around them – and the only one I could think of was the potential Chandler for Ben Wallace trade.  Everyone was reporting that – but then, Phoenix’s front office has more leaks than the Titanic.  There was some information out there prior to the Morris Peterson signing, but that was because Utah was pursuing Peterson as well.  That’s about it.

Bower just doesn’t say much.  You listen to one of his interviews, and he generally says what he wants to say in the first minute.  After that, you’ll get nothing out of him.  His answers will be neutral, generally uninformative, somewhat evasive, and will never, ever, hint at his future plans. 

As a blogger, speculating about the Hornet’s future moves, that can be rough.  As an avid fan, hoping and wanting the Hornets to do something, anything earlier this summer, that was rough.  However, as someone who wants the Hornets to do well, I love it.  A man who can keep his mouth shut about a big deal while the media excoriates him? A man who never tips his hand to anyone?  That’s good stuff.

What do you guys think?