The trade exception that the Hornets gave the Pacers in exchange for Peja Stojakovic have led some to wonder about the motives behind the move.  Some believe that it was for the Hornets to win favor with the Pacers in attempts to help in a potential relocation, while also keeping Al Harrington out of the Western Conference.

Andy Miller, the agent for Harrington, said he and Harrington were still considering other offers when the Hornets and Pacers agreed to the trade. He added that he didn?t think the Pacers ?under any or every circumstance were going to get Al Harrington.?

?I have no idea about the relationship between the two owners,? Miller said. ?Being actively involved in the whole process, I can tell you that when it was announced that (the Pacers) received a trade exception, we hadn?t made a decision whether we were going to Indiana or any other team that was pursuing us.

?So from a conspiracy theory perspective, it doesn?t have any weight, because we?re not a part of that theory and we hadn?t made a decision yet.?

New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn said Wednesday that the team is still headed back to New Orleans.

Shinn said the $350 million purchase of the Seattle Sonics will have no effect on the Hornets, who are about to spend their second season in Oklahoma City, where the team temporarily relocated after Hurricane Katrina.

"Technically, the Hornets are New Orleans' team to lose," Shinn said. "Right now, everything is going in a positive direction and all indicators are that we'll be going back. What happens, I don't know. I can't read tea leaves and predict the future. But I'm just at total peace that whatever happens, it's going to be God's will. That's all I can do."

The New Orleans Hornets signed free agents Bobby Jackson and Rasual Butler on Wednesday, capping a busy offseason during which the team has overhauled its roster.

"We have to create a chemistry," said Butler. "It's a different basketball team, but it's a mixture of younger players and older veterans who understand what it takes to win basketball games."

The Indiana Pacers are closing in on acquiring Al Harrington via a sign-and-trade deal, according to a report on ESPN by  Marc Stein.

Multiple front office sources believe that the deal is as good as done.

The Pacers' chief competition, the Golden State Warriors, expect Harrington to end up in Indiana with a six-year $57 million deal.

Harrington, sources said, initially told interested suitors he was expecting a six-year deal worth at least $66 million. For the Pacers to pay that much, Atlanta almost certainly would have to be willing to accept a package built around Indiana center Jeff Foster. But Foster, by all indications, is not part of the forthcoming trade.

Indy's unforeseen trade exception from the Peja Stojakovic sign and trade gets Harrington fairly close to his financial target and the team he likes best.

With a modest cash payment believed to be in the $250,000 range, Indiana convinced the Hornets to participate in a sign-and-trade swap for Stojakovic instead of signing him outright.

Without the $7.5 million trade exception resulting from that maneuver, Indiana wouldn't be able to complete a sign-and-trade for Harrington unless the Hawks were willing to take back contracts in the same monetary range as Harrington's new first-year salary.

Despite all their off season moves, during which the Hornets have taken on an estimated $143 million in salary, General Manager Jeff Bower said they're still not done.

They want to add a third point guard, because new acquisition Bobby Jackson likely will split time at point guard and shooting guard.

The Hornets have also reached an agreement to re-sign Rasual Butler, their top 3-pointer shooter last season.

"In order to put ourselves in position to be a playoff team we had to do something big," Bower said. "We had all the stats after the spring, and we looked at our team and looked at the opportunities to be a playoff team. When you talk about the division that we're in with Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Memphis, those teams have been playoff teams the last four years."

Rasual Butler will likely re-sign with the New Orleans Hornets.

The Nets have had interest in bringing him in and will now be forced to consider alternatives.

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has acquired forward/center P.J. Brown and guard J.R. Smith from the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in exchange for forward/center Tyson Chandler.

?We really welcome the veteran leadership that P.J. will bring to our team. He brings a consistent game at both ends of the floor and we will be counting on his production in helping us improve as a team,? said Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson.

?We also really appreciate all Tyson did for us during his five years here in Chicago. He was an integral part in our growth as an organization and it is always difficult to trade away a player who has been with our organization for a long time. We wish him and his family the best of luck,? Paxson added.

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets traded Kirk Snyder to the Houston Rockets for future considerations.

The Rockets did not have to give up a player to add Snyder, sending cash and future draft considerations ? likely no more than switching second-round draft positions ? to the Hornets.

The Pacers gained a valuable trade exception worth $7.5 million from the Hornets in exchange for Peja Stojakovic.

"It's a great thing to have," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said Thursday. "Everybody in the league knows we have it now and knows what it could mean."

Walsh credited senior vice president David Morway for arranging the deal.

The Hornets agreed to the arrangement because the Pacers added an undisclosed amount of money to the trade.  

Along with the exception, the Pacers acquired the draft rights to 7-1 British center Andrew Betts, a second-round draft pick of the Hornets in 1998.

This move could make trading for Al Harrington far easier for the Pacers.  The Pacers could use the trade exception to land Harrington by trading a future draft pick and/or cash along with the exception.

Bulls coach Scott Skiles took exception to Tyson Chandler's charge that Skiles was an uncommunicative coach and that "it was like there were walls up'' anytime Chandler tried to talk to Skiles.

''My staff and I are very, very disappointed,'' Skiles said of Chandler's criticism after he was traded to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on July 5. ''Because in my over 30-plus years of playing competitive basketball, I've never been around a staff or head coach that spent so much time with one player; talking to one player, communicating with one player. All I can say, sometimes people say things they don't necessarily mean and after further thought wish they hadn't said it. Maybe that will be the case.''

''Any player has a right to their opinion about certain issues. And it's a chic thing to do now; when you get traded is to blast your former team. Coaches do it, players do it, everybody does it. But most people that are around me know that -- and I always include my staff in this because they're vital to it, too -- we leave no stone unturned in communicating with our players. And, literally, on a daily basis. I would venture to say to a point they're actually sick of talking to us more than the other way.''