The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have signed Marcus Fizer from the NBADL?s Austin Toros to a 10-day contract.

?Marcus is a proven NBA player and he?ll help strengthen our injury-depleted frontline as we make our playoff push,? said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower. ?He showed great professionalism this season by improving his game in the NBADL and we look forward to the contributions he?ll be able to make right away.?

Fizer was named the NBA Development League?s Most Valuable Player for the 2005-06 season earlier today after averaging 22.7 points and 7.8 rebounds in 35 games with the Toros.  Fizer signed a 10-day contract with the Seattle SuperSonics on March 8, but did not appear in a game.

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have waived forward/center Jackson Vroman.

Vroman appeared in 77 games (19 starts) with the Hornets, averaging 3.5 points and 3.2 rebounds. He suffered a season-ending injury when he broke his right wrist on February 1st against Chicago.

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have recalled rookie forward Brandon Bass from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

?With the recent injury to David West and the injury problems with Aaron Williams, getting Brandon back will help strengthen our frontline,? said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower.  ?Brandon was able to show the skills that we have seen in practice in one game with the 66ers and we are excited to have him back.?

Hornets' most improved player David West missed Monday's game against the Utah Jazz because of a sprained left ankle, The News-Picayune is reporting. West suffered the injury in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers when forward Lamar Odom collided into him during the third quarter.

"It's the same ankle that I've had problems with all season," West said. "If we weren't having back-to-back games, I'll be fine. I lay in bed all day and the pain didn't go away. It just seems like there is a target on me with just this ankle."

West is day to day.

Hornets coach Byron Scott confirmed on Friday that he has had preliminary discussions with team owner George Shinn about extending his contract, The Times-Picayune writer John Reid is reporting.

Scott is currently under contract through next season and is seeking a new, long term deal in the five to six year range.

"I'm happy with the organization, and I think I've done a pretty good job," said Scott. "I know we're going to get better, and I wouldn't mind being here until Chris Paul is a perennial All-Star."

"I've told him that I want him back," Shinn said. "I think he's a great coach, and he's good with the guys. So I told him if he wants to talk, he can talk to me. But I'm not going to talk to an agent. If he has an agent involved, he has to talk to (General Manager) Jeff Bower, not me."

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have assigned rookie forward Brandon Bass to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.  

?Brandon is a very talented player and has improved greatly throughout the year in practice,? said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower.  ?Assigning him to the D-League will allow him to get the game experience he needs to grow as a professional while we monitor that development.?

Arbitrator Calvin Sharpe today upheld the NBA's January 27, 2006 dismissal and disqualification of Chris Andersen of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for his violation of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.  Anderson and the NBA Players Association had filed a grievance challenging the penalty imposed on the player, and that grievance was denied.

After returning for a few games in New Orelans, George Shinn said that the next step is to locate all of the season-ticket holders from before the storm.

"We've got a lot of work to do between now and next season to see if we can put our hands on everybody who had season tickets before," Shinn said. "In a lot of cases, the phones are out of order. Where are they? We'll do everything we can to find these people, short of hiring the FBI. The people that are at these three games, obviously every name address and phone number is captured. OK, you came to three games, will you come to 41 games in two years? A lot of these things will take time to determine. Basically, I'm an optimist, and I see things happening."

According to The Types-Picayne, Hornet high flyer Desmond Mason will miss a minimum of two weeks because of a sprained left MCL.

Mason injured his knee in the first quarter of Tuesday's game at San Antonio when teammate Marc Jackson tried to draw a charge and landed on the knee.

"Mase was one of our key players and the heart-and-soul of this team because of his work ethic," said Hornets coach Byron Scott.

Hornets starting center P.J. Brown missed his first game Tuesday night because of injury since the 2003-04 season.

He did not play against the San Antonio Spurs because of a sore left ankle, and he got hit on his forehead with an elbow during Sunday's loss to the New Jersey Nets and it's still swollen.

"It's a day-to-day situation," Brown said. "I've been a little banged up for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, I can do some rehab and be ready for the next one. I'm not used to sitting; it always feel weird."