According to The Times-Picayune, there appears to be no rush for serious negotiations to begin to re-sign Hornets coach Byron Scott, whose contract expires at the end of next season.

"There hasn't been any talks," Scott said. "The one thing that I'm doing right now is really concentrating on this draft. So when we start talking about it (extension), it would be great and if it don't happen until the draft is over that's fine, too. I'm not worried about it."

Hornets owner George Shinn said he plans to offer Scott an extension, and he said earlier this month that preliminary discussions had started. But Shinn prefers that negotiations involve only himself and Scott. It was Scott's business manager, Brian McInerney, who helped negotiate Scott's original three-year, $10 million deal.

The Hornets might deal away veteran center P.J. Brown this summer, according to Benjamin Hochman.

Brown is 36 and in the final year of his $32 million, four-year contract. It also is possible the Hornets could trade one or both picks of their picks.

"Absolutely, we won't rule anything out," Bower said. "We'll take a look at every scenario possible to try and help our team get better.

NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that New Orleans will host the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.

Stern says that the announcement is a vote of confidence that the city of New Orleans will be able to rebuild its previous tourism infrastructure amid destruction and tragedy.

All-Star Weekend 2008 will run from February 15-17.

The announcement marks the first major sporting event rewarded to the city of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Jeff Bower, general manager of the New Orleans Hornets after Allen Bristow left the post in October, is in line for a raise.

"Jeff knows he's going to be back here, and he's going to get a substantial raise," George Shinn said this past week while visiting New Orleans. "But don't tell him I'm going to pay him more than he deserves. I'm going to do whatever it takes, but I'm not going to be stupid."

A lawyer representing the Hornets stressed on Thursday that the club is Louisiana's to lose, indicating that relocation is inevitable if the state breaks a promise to build a new practice facility.

"If the state decides not to build the practice facility, it's all over," Hines said Thursday, a day after he hosted a gathering of prospective investors in the club at his New Orleans home. "We fought really hard to get this team. It would be a shame."

Hornets coach Byron Scott said Wednesday he has not yet entered negotiations to extend his contract but would like to have a new deal worked out before next season.

"I would love to get it done in the offseason," Scott said. "But if we don't get it done, it still wouldn't be something I would worry about, to be honest with you. I think I've proven in the six years I've been in this league as a head coach that I can get the job done. It's not something I'm worried about."

According to a report by the Associated Press, Hornets owner George Shinn said Wednesday that he has never wavered in his plan to return full time to New Orleans for the 2007-08 NBA season.

Just two days after saying the pace of New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina was "very discouraging and very depressing," Shinn planned to meet with potential investors interested in ensuring the team's long-term viability in the city.

The Hornets have hired a New York-based sports advisory group to seek potential investors. More than a dozen with interest in keeping the team in New Orleans were scheduled to meet later Wednesday with Shinn and Hornets guard Chris Paul, the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Chris  Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets  will  receive  the  Eddie  Gottlieb Trophy as the 2005-06 T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Paul received 124 out of a possible 125 first-place votes (623 points) from a  panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada,  the  largest  percent  of  votes since David Robinson received 100 percent  of  first-place votes in 1989-90. Players were awarded five points for  each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point  for  each  third-place  vote  received. Toronto?s Charlie Villanueva finished second with 248 points and Milwaukee?s Andrew Bogut finished third with 98 points.

Paul,  the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, averaged rookie highs of  16.1  points,  7.8 assists, 2.24 steals and posted 21 double-doubles to lead  the  Hornets  to  a  20-win improvement over last season, the biggest turnaround  in  the NBA this season. He led the league in total steals with 175, becoming only the second rookie in NBA history to accomplish that feat (Brevin  Knight,  1997-98), ranked third in steals per game, fifth in total assists (611) and seventh in assists per game.

Paul  received  the  T-Mobile  Western Conference Rookie of the Month award every  month  of  the  2005-06  season, joining David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Carmelo  Anthony  and LeBron James as the only players in league history to win  the award every month.

The city of New Orleans will be ready for the Hornets to play in their city again by the 2007-2008 season, according to the president of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce. Work on the city is ongoing and will accelerate.

George Shinn, the team's owner has expressed concerns about the city's ability to accomodate them.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Hornets' owner George Shinn expressed his disappointment in the progress being made by the city of New Orleans.

"I've been back to New Orleans probably a half-dozen times since the storm, and each time we go back, I have a car there and we go back through the areas," Shinn said. "I hear all the politicians talk about all the great things that's happening: `We'll be back in a year. We'll be back in five months.' You know, crazy stuff."

Despite the strong words, Shinn said that the Hornets intend to honor their lease with the New Oreleans Arena.

"I have seen virtually very, very little improvement and it's very discouraging and very depressing."