Agent Arn Tellem, who represents Hornets center Jamaal Magloire, said this week he plans to resume discussions this week with the team regarding a contract extension for the center. Tellem, who was traveling last week, said talks with the Hornets aimed at lengthening Magloire's deal have been cordial. The sides have until Oct. 31 to come to terms, or talks are suspended until the end of the season.

In the 15-year history of the Hornets, the team has drafted only two foreign-born players -- Czechoslovakia's George Zidek in 1995 and Canada's Jamaal Magloire in 2000.

But this year the franchise plans to identify potential draft-eligible international players and monitor them for the rest of the year. The Hornets also are planning to take more scouting trips outside the country.

Hornets assistant general manager Allan Bristow traveled to Greece in June for an eight-day tournament.

The Hornets are considering taking a trip to Sweden next month to scout international players participating in a tournament. But even if they don't make that tournament, it's likely that team officials will take another trip to Europe before the end of the year, said Bob Bass, the Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager.

"This is the earliest that we have identified (foreign) players for our draft," Bass said.

Last year, the Hornets made one trip to Europe.

Hornets guard Darrell Armstrong, signed as a free agent last month, is expected to enter a plea on the charge of battery against a police officer in three weeks or so and could miss regular-season games if the case goes to trial.

The Orange-Osceola (Fla.) County state attorney's office filed the felony charge Wednesday against Armstrong, along with a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer without violence.

Armstrong, who spent nine seasons with the Orlando Magic, was arrested July 7 outside an Orlando nightclub after an altercation with a police officer.

"It normally takes 21 days for an arraignment hearing to occur," said Randy Means, spokesman for Orange-Osceola state attorney Lawson Lamar. "He doesn't have to appear (for the arraignment) if he decides to have a written plea given to us by his attorney."

Means said there is no way to say this soon whether the case will go to trial. If it does, Armstrong could miss some regular-season games. The Hornets begin training camp Oct. 2, and their regular-season opener is against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 29 .

More than 80 percent of cases similar to Armstrong's are settled before trial, Means said. But if Armstrong is convicted, he could face a maximum jail sentence of up to five years and $5,000 in fines. His misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Florida prosecutors filed felony charges Wednesday against New Orleans Hornets player Darrell Armstrong, who was accused of slapping away the hand of a female police officer as she ordered him off a street outside an Orlando, Fla., nightclub.

Armstrong's defense lawyer, Zachary E. Stoumbos, said Armstrong would vigorously fight the charge of battery on a police officer, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. Armstrong also was formally charged with resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor.

"Whatever contact took place was human nature -- to respond to someone grabbing you from behind when you don't know who that is, meaning you push that hand away," Stoumbos said after being informed of the prosecutor's decision to file formal charges Wednesday afternoon. "Only then did he realize this lady officer was an officer."

Armstrong, who signed a free-agent contract with New Orleans in late July after playing nine seasons for Orlando, was arrested on July 7.

Police have alleged that officer Teresa Joyce was ordering Armstrong to get out of the street and that he was ignoring her, so she put her hand on his shoulder to guide him to the sidewalk.

Joyce has said she sprained her left middle and ring fingers, which were tangled up in Armstrong's shirt, as other officers turned Armstrong toward a police car.

Stoumbos said Armstrong, a 35-year-old father of three who well respected in the community, would not have intentionally battered a police officer, which prosecutors will have to prove.

Jamaal Magloire is the only Hornets starter with just two years remaining on his contract.

But that might be changing soon.

The Hornets are interested in extending Magloire's contract beyond the 2004-05 season, after which he's scheduled to become a free agent.

Negotiations have started between Bob Bass, the Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager, and Magloire's agent, Arn Tellem.

"We've had conversations about it, and we're still talking," Bass said Tuesday from his vacation home in Texas.

This past summer, the Hornets exercised the option year on Magloire's contract, assuring that the team would have him for one more year after this season.

To increase their home crowds, the Hornets are offering group packages with reduced ticket prices to some of the most highly anticipated games of the season.

The Hornets will have three packages, available only to groups of 20 or more.

Their "Classic" package, from $20 to $58 per ticket, will include games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, featuring the return of former Hornets coach Paul Silas and projected rookie star LeBron James.

In the "Super Game" package, groups can buy tickets to attend one or more of 18 pre-selected games, against such opponents as the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers or Dallas Mavericks. Tickets will range from $17 to $45.

In another package, the "Slam Dunk," groups can buy tickets to 19 pre-selected games. Tickets are $12 to $58, and the top games in the package are against the defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets, the Indiana Pacers and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"Last year, we finished in the top third in total group sales, but our objective is to improve our sales by 35 percent this season," said Alex Martins, the Hornets' senior vice president of marketing and branding.

The Hornets want to appeal more to convention and church groups, social clubs and to people planning birthday parties.

George Shinn's tell-all book about the Charlotte Hornets' tumultuous move from here to New Orleans is dead.

The publisher said Monday it has canceled the book, partly because of fears it would alienate Charlotte residents and longtime Hornets fans.

"The quality of the writing and his treatment of sensitive issues raised concerns," said Stephanie Williams, senior publicist at Louisiana-based Pelican Publishing. "In general, Charlotte is an important market to us, and we want to be very careful not to offend anyone."

Shinn and his public relations staff did not return calls Monday afternoon.

The 192-page book, titled "Never Give Up," was due out in October. It was pitched as Shinn's account of "the agony and acrimony of the team's final decade in Charlotte."

Tim Floyd never has seen or spoken to Jacob Marcello, and that won't change before Friday. The Hornets coach will be in Los Angeles for a speaking engagement, and the 16-year-old from Thibodaux is likely to be in New Orleans.

But Floyd is one of many people willing to stand up for Marcello. And Marcello needs, and merits, the help Floyd and others are offering.

Marcello had a tumor in the major bone in his right hip. Doctors were forced to amputate his right leg and hip bone to save his life.

That created the need for a prosthesis. Its cost ($20,000), and the fact there was no insurance to cover such a cost created the need for a community boost, which was ably supplied by Bob Piper, who organized Friday's fund-raiser a golf scramble at Eastover Country Club.

About 200 people are expected to participate. And though Floyd won't be present, a piece of his heart will. It's an encouraging sign considering that he, and others, seem to be running to help as opposed to running away, as many sports figures have been apt to do.

"I don't feel like I've really done anything," said Floyd, who agreed to play before realizing he'd previously committed to the speaking engagement. "I feel badly that I can't be there."

The Hornets on Monday decided to extend the contract of forward George Lynch, who had two seasons left on a six-year agreement reached originally with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Lynch, in San Diego this week to conduct his youth basketball camp, said the Hornets agreed to extend him an extra year that will pay him an estimated $3.2 million for the 2005-06 season. Under a deal reached with the Sixers before he was traded to the Hornets in 2001, the 10-year veteran will make $2.8 million this season and $3 million for the 2004-05 season. Last year, Lynch asked the franchise to extend his contract, which would have allowed him to negotiate a more lucrative deal, but the team decided against it.

"I know they didn't have to do anything, but I appreciate what they did," Lynch said.

"I wasn't asking for a four-year deal or anything. I just wanted an extra year on my contract.

Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Bass said Lynch's requests weren't granted until now because of league rules.

"He had a six-year contract and you cannot offer him an extension until the fourth anniversary date (Aug. 1) he signed the contract," Bass said.

But Bass said the deal was reached primarily to keep the continuity on the team.

The New Orleans Hornets announced that they have signed forward George Lynch to a contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

Lynch, a 10-year NBA veteran, played in 81 games for the Hornets last season, averaging 4.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 18.5 minutes.

"George has been a key contributor to the success of our team for the last two seasons," said Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Bob Bass. "He has solidified our bench with his defense, hustle and all-around play and has done an outstanding job when he's been called upon to start."

Lynch started in 32 games for the Hornets last season (during which they went 20-12), averaging 7.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He had his best stretch of the season when he averaged 8.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists while leading the team to a 10-3 record from February 3 to March 1.