Filed under: Hornets, Lakers, NBA Rumors

LOS ANGELES – When the New Orleans Hornets took part in a four-team, five-player trade in early August, the message sent by first-year general manager Dell Demps was unmistakable: Chris Paul is going nowhere.

In parting ways with the point guard who so many saw as Paul’s successor (second-year guard Darren Collison went to Indiana), Demps made it known that the next two seasons would be spent trying to convince CP3 to stick around beyond his free agency in 2012 by sticking with the plan of building around him. But the less talked-about dynamic of the deal involved the addition of a player with all of the qualities Paul had craved more of: a savvy, defensive-minded veteran with a championship track record.

Small forward Trevor Ariza.

He was and remains a pivotal part of Demps’ pitch, a glue-guy whose versatility, team-first mentality and occasional offense has had much to do with the Hornets’ surprising 29-16 record and current standing as the third-best team in the Western Conference (they’re in a virtual tie with Oklahoma City and Dallas). He is in the midst of his best scoring month yet as a Hornet, averaging 12.9 points on 44.8 percent shooting overall and 37 percent from three-point range while New Orleans has won eight straight games and 11 of 13 entering tonight’s matchup with Oklahoma City.

Ariza and I sat down at the Hornets’ team hotel in Marina Del Rey earlier this season to discuss his career, from his time as one of the league’s best reserves with New York, Orlando and the title-winning Lakers (in 2009) to his time as a starter that began after he signed a five-year, $33.5-million deal with Houston in the summer of 2009.

He raved about his current situation, lauding Demps and first-year coach Monty Williams for creating the sort of winning culture he knew so well while with the Lakers. He lamented the way it ended with his hometown team, taking great exception to the notion that his greed led to his departure as opposed to the Lakers’ interest in his replacement, Ron Artest. He discussed how grateful he is to be getting paid so handsomely to play a game he loves, one that he might play in Europe should the NBA have a lockout as so many expect this summer.

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