Alvin Gentry will join the Hornets' coaching staff today, becoming the fourth and final assistant under head coach Tim Floyd.

Gentry will be introduced at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Alario Center, sources said.

Gentry, 48, has been an NBA head coach for parts or all of seven seasons, compiling an overall record of 177-226 with the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers. His most recent stint was with the Clippers and ended March 3, when he was fired as the Clippers struggled to a 19-39 record amid expectations that the young, talented team might challenge for a playoff berth in the Western Conference.

Gentry's first head coaching job was with the Heat, when he replaced Kevin Loughery during the 1994-95 season and posted a 15-21 record. Next was a three-year stretch with the Pistons; he replaced Doug Collins and led Detroit to a 16-21 record in 1997-98, went to the playoffs after a 29-21 record in the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 and was fired after 58 games and a 28-30 record the next season.

The Clippers selected him as head coach before the 2000-01 season and won 31 and 39 games before floundering this past season. Gentry was replaced by Dennis Johnson.

When the moment finally came Thursday night, the crowded room was quiet and the man of the hour was nowhere to be seen.

ESPN's coverage of the NBA draft had gone to commercial with the New Orleans Hornets on the clock for their second-round selection. When the network returned from the station break at about 10 p.m., the crawler at the bottom of the screen silently told everyone at Trademarc's Sports Grill in west Mobile what they had been waiting to hear.

James Lang is now a professional basketball player.

The Hornets made Lang, a 6-foot-9, 305-pound center who played at Shaw High School before transferring to Birmingham's Central Park Christian two years ago, the 48th pick of the draft and completed his jump from high school to the NBA.

As it turns out, it's a jump that will take only two hours by car.

All the Hornets want us to read into the selection of David West is that they couldn't have gotten a better player, regardless of position, with the 18th pick in the first round of the NBA draft.

So we'll indulge them and hope that West, the first three-time Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year, can wedge his way into the playing rotation, even if/when the team re-signs free-agent forwards P.J. Brown and Jerome Moiso. And that he's a better fit for them than will be any of the players drafted after him, lest the young man be doomed to a career of comparison.

If nothing else, New Orleans on Thursday night took the most productive player remaining on the board, a 22-year-old college senior that, though ancient by NBA draft standards, carries the plus of requiring a minimal adjustment period.

"It pays off to stay in school for all years," West said. "I learned some things, and so I'm ready to play and I feel ready to play."

"I don't think there's any question that a senior is going to be more ready to play than an underclassman," said Bob Bass, the Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager.

The hot rumor flying around the league yesterday was that the Cavaliers were going to sign power forward P.J. Brown in free agency.

The 6-foot-11, 240-pounder would take the Cavaliers' entire average salary exception of $4.6 million.

Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson shot down the rumor.

''Based on our team, we'll probably be looking at some other positions and other needs,'' he said. ''That's speculation on someone else's part.''

The Cavaliers will likely used their average salary exception on a veteran point guard.

David West remained patient Thursday night, as NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the 13 lottery picks and four more before he walked to the podium at The Theater at Madison Square Garden to disclose the New Orleans Hornets' choice.

In that moment, West's professional future took shape as the Hornets selected him with the 18th pick, guaranteeing West a three-year contract worth $3.1 million.

"I knew I was going there," said West from his parents' home in Garner, N.C. "After Boston and Phoenix passed on me (at No. 16 and 17), I knew New Orleans would take me. They said they liked me if I was still available. I wasn't stressed. I was just watching it and having a good time with my family."

Former Ohio University and Withrow star Brandon Hunter had to wait a bit longer than West, but his name was finally called three picks before the end of the draft. Boston selected the 6-foot-7 forward, who was watching from home in Cincinnati, at No. 58 in the second round.

"We knew he'd go somewhere in the second round," said Hunter's agent, Doug Newstadt. "In the second round, it's a crapshoot. But he's happy."

For West, just knowing that he will be a member of the Hornets ends months of speculation.

"I was sweating it," said West's agent, Jeff Austin of Octagon. "Because I didn't think he would go before 18. But I told him I thought it was a very strong possibility that he could go to New Orleans."

Basketball coaches Kenny Gattison and Blaine Taylor were pitted against each other in 2001 as candidates for the Old Dominion job. Taylor won. But during the hiring process Taylor had been bombarded with glowing praise of his opponent, so much so that he hired him as an assistant.

"I had heard so many good things about him that I turned around and talked with him, and I ended up hiring a guy that was after my job," Taylor said. "But that speaks to the trust and personal qualities he has."

Two seasons later, the New Orleans Hornets hired Gattison from Taylor's staff to be an assistant coach. While losing a talented assistant, Taylor said he believes the Hornets snatched a gem.

"Kenny has very good insight and credibility, when you start dealing with players, approaches, attitudes. He's a really good people person," Taylor said. "I think players are comfortable with him, workmates are comfortable with him. I think most everybody, if you know Kenny Gattison, you like Kenny Gattison."

"We're thrilled to have him on board," said new Hornets coach Tim Floyd, who also has hired assistants Jeff Bower and Jan van Breda Kolff.

Bob Bass strode to the podium for one last pre-draft gathering with the media Wednesday looking dapper in a multi-colored, open-collared sports shirt that seemed timely and appropriate.

It was covered with big-game trophy fish.

It is Bass' job as Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager to land a big one for his employer in tonight's annual NBA draft.

Yet whether Bass, with the 18th overall selection, can reel in a whopper who can make some sort of impact next season on a veteran-heavy playoff club is a question even a veteran angler such as Bass seems hesitant to answer.

"I think this draft is a lot better than last year, put it that way," Bass said, "but we're going to struggle to get a really great player at 18. Maybe it's kind of deep, but I'm not saying all these guys drafted 19, 20, 21 would make a team.

The hoopla surrounds the new, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Whomever the Hornets pick tonight in the first round of the NBA draft will hopefully stick with the team, crack the rotation and develop into something more than a serviceable backup.

But let's not delude ourselves. The selection of Kansas forward Nick Collison, Illinois forward Brian Cook, Oregon guard Luke Ridnour, Wake Forest guard Josh Howard or whomever lands in the Hornets' lap is secondary to the "re-drafting" of the team's most critical pick this summer.

Forward P.J. Brown, a 10-year veteran, is needed in the fold. And hopefully the franchise hasn't fouled up the signing of the free agent and three-year Hornet who may, or may not, consider it a slight that he isn't already under contract.

Granted, each side has said the right things. Brown, who made his offseason home in Slidell even when he played elsewhere, claims he wants to be back. The organization, which has benefited significantly from his contributions on and off the court, claims it wants him back.

But there have been enough head-scratching and jaw-dropping decisions this offseason to make it silly to take for granted anything that makes sense, including Brown remaining a Hornet.

The New Orleans Hornets have been preparing for the NBA draft since their season came to an end in early May.

When Thursday's draft finally comes around, they'll have another wait in front of them. Seventeen teams pick ahead of the Hornets. That could make it harder for Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Bass to find what he is looking for -- a player who can contribute immediately.

In most drafts, top-caliber players can be easily found among the top 13 picks. But the Hornets have the 18th pick in the first round, and their second-round selection is the 48th overall.

Bass said he hopes the Hornets have better luck than some teams that have had the 18th pick. Of players taken in that slot from 1993 to 1999, Atlanta Hawks center Theo Ratliff -- drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1995 and today one of the league's best shot-blockers -- is the only player still in the league.

But the four players selected at 18 during the past four drafts remain in the league. One of the best is Houston Rockets forward James Posey, whom the Denver Nuggets traded to the Houston Rockets this past season.

The Hornets are bringing back a piece of their past to join the team as an assistant coach.

Kenny Gattison, who played six seasons for the club when it was based in Charlotte, will join coach Tim Floyd's New Orleans staff as the third named assistant, sources close to the Hornets said Tuesday.

Gattison had spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Old Dominion, his alma mater. His hiring will be announced at a press conference today at the Alario Center.

New Orleans is expected to announce the hiring of former Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Alvin Gentry shortly after Thursday's NBA draft.

Gattison played in 390 games from 1989-1995 for the Hornets after joining the team as a free agent.