Cats Still In The Mix For Calderon: The Charlotte Bobcats tried to get in the four-team deal that dropped yesterday looking to extract point guard Jose Calderon from Toronto in a deal that would have sent the non-guaranteed contract of Erick Dampier to the Pacers who would have then sent the ending contract of TJ Ford to Toronto for Calderon. At the end of the day the Bobcats couldn't get their end of the deal done, and they are again talking with Toronto directly about a deal for Jose. The Raptors are eager to move Calderon and with Charlotte expressing real interest again, it seems like a good match. The Bobcats currently have three point guards on the roster – returning reserve guard D.J. Augustin, free agent signee Shaun Livingston and undrafted free agent Sharron Collins. None of those three inspire a lot of confidence in the Cats quest to get back to the playoffs; however the Bobcats would have quite the logjam at the point guard spot if they acquire Calderon without making a move to lighten their roster. Bobcats' head coach Larry Brown has never been very high on Augustin and often hinted that he would be traded last season. With last year's starter Raymond Felton now a New York Knick, Augustin is the only point guard coming into camp that knows the system, so there is a chance he's given an opportunity to win the starting job. But with Charlotte still talking deals for Calderon, it seems more likely than not that DJ could be on his way out in Charlotte, even though he's the most experienced and proven guard on the roster. All In For Chris Paul: As the news broke yesterday that the New Orleans Hornets had trigged a deal sending Darren Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers and got back Houston's Trevor Ariza, you weren't alone if you said "that's all they could get for Collison?" The Hornets made two transactions yesterday getting Trevor Ariza from Houston as part of a four-team deal with New Jersey, Houston, and Indiana. They made a second transaction brining in Macro Belinelli from Toronto in exchange for Julian Wright. While on the surface, these moves are not overly impressive, they are in fact "something for nothing moves" – No matter how you slice it Darren Collison was never going to play huge minutes as long as Chris Paul was healthy and James Posey has run his course as a Hornet. Getting back a proven playoff player like Trevor Ariza who can play in an up and down system and really defend, gives the Hornets a workable option at small forward, something they did not have with Julian Wright or James Posey. The addition of Belinelli is mostly bonus and roster depth. The truth of the matter is that New Orleans pushed all of their chips to the center of the table and said "it's your move Chris Paul" as both of these moves were about showing Chris that they would cash in youth to get him more proven and established players. The moves certainly weren't the huge splashy moves that would satisfy Chris Paul's desire for more help, but what first year GM Dell Demps did yesterday was convert dead roster weight into two serviceable and proven players, and it really only cost him Darren Collison. You have to give to get in the NBA and the Hornets got better yesterday, time will tell if these kind of moves are enough to get Chris Paul thinking long term in New Orleans again. Buying Out TJ Ford?: The Indiana Pacers got their point guard. It cost them Troy Murphy and they had to take on the contract of James Posey, but at the end of the day the Pacers got one of the players they coveted since the season ended and they now feel like they have their floor general. The Pacers tried to move off T.J. Ford yesterday as part of the deal, but his ending $8.5 million contract was too much for Toronto. The Pacers have been trying to get Ford to take a contract buyout offering him $5 million to walk away. Ford, whose free agent value is clearly in the toilet, has passed on buyout talks saying he would not agree to a dollar less than what's owed him. Pacers' team president Larry Bird said at this point the team is still looking at additional trade options, but they expect Ford to be a professional. "We're not done with the summer," Bird said to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. "We've got some work to do...We'll take it a piece at a time. We've got expiring contracts, some veterans here. It's just a piece at a time. We're going to get this job done and we're going to do it on time." "T.J. is on the team and we expect him to come in here and be professional and try to get a job and get some playing time." The Pacers are looking for a power forward type player in trade, as there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty regarding Tyler Hansbrough and his inner ear issue that cost him most of the season last year. The Pacers roster now stands at 15 players, and there is interest inside the team in signing second-round pick Magnum Rolle to a deal, so the Pacers will need to shed a contract to make it happen. -- A-Rod D.Jeter J.Posada R.Clemen R.Cano M.Cairo H.Matsui M.Cabrer B.Abreu NY ˍ NY ˍ NY ˍ NY ˍ NY ˍ NY ˍ NY ˍ NY　 ˍ NY ˙ ˙ ● ● ● ●○⊙ ⊙ ˙ ˙○． ．○ ⊙ ⊙ω＞ ＜ ⊙ ⊙ ▇︹▇↖ ε ▇﹏▇ \ ︵ ◥ ⊙ ︵ ∵ ▽ ∵\ □ 皿 /██\ \\██ /■■■-◎/██ /██\ /██\ <██y /██ ↖/██> The| \ New＜＜ York◢▼◣ Ya||nkees / ╰↘ ││ｍψwillmango \ \, Ptt| ╰ --

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