Peterson Agrees to Sign with Hornets

[Keo]

Morris Peterson and the New Orleans Hornets agreed to terms on a 4-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been announced, said Peterson would sign the deal following a vacation.

Peterson visited Salt Lake City earlier this week to meet with Utah Jazz officials. He also said Detroit, New Jersey, Cleveland, Miami and Toronto had expressed interest in him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2935681

I thought he would sign with Utah but this also makes sense. It also means that Desmond Mason likely will not re-sign and possibly head to Milwaukee and that the Hornets are no longer interested in Pietrus.

Overall, the Hornets have a solid group now and if they can stay healthy, they'll be in the thick of things come playoff time. And this will probably rejuvenate Mo-Pete's career a bit.

[JT_55]

Sigh...there goes Mo Pete.

Whatever. The Raps don't need him anyway. They've got Kapono.

[KIG1]

Good signing for the Raptors. I would've liked to see him in a Cavs uniform more though.

[JT_55]

Uhh...Raptors didn't sign him. Teh Hornets did. What I meant was the Raps didn't need him anymore so they didn't re-sign him.

[jonthefon]

Damn, another Mavs possibility disappears

Good addition for the Hornets, he's pretty solid.

[The X]

good signing by the Hornets....he can start at SG for them & makes passing on Nick Young seem a little better now, especially since they have Julian Wright in the wings....

[Anthony15]

Well this is gonna be a nice back court of CP3 and Mo Pete, still, the signing doesn't make the Hornets look strong enough to be in Elite 8, especially since they're in Western Conference.

[---]

Yay, that means Desmond Mason will be elsewhere.

I hope Desmond makes a good choice for his next team and plays like he did in Milwaukee. I remember when he was almost getting to the 20PPG level. Best of luck to him.

[cyanide]

It all ends on mutual terms. The SF position is loaded and Mo-Pete had a bad last season, so it all works out.

[Andrew]

I would have thought the Hornets would be more interested in keeping Mason around but Mo-Pete's a good pickup. I would expect the Bucks will pursue Mason further with this development though there's going to be a bit of a logjam there as well, though Ruben Patterson is a free agent as well. The Bucks have already committed around $10 million per year to Bobby Simmons over the next three years as well so it could become quite an expensive rotation at small forward if Mason returns to Milwaukee.

[Its_asdf]

The Hornets signed Peterson to an offer sheet a few years ago, but the Raptors matched it and signed him to a three year deal. I was estatic then.

Peterson got away from what made him one of the go-to guys a season or so ago. He stopped using his highly effective mid range game, which I think helped create space for his three point shooting and his decent slashing ability. I'll definitely miss the guy and I'm really respectful of how he handelled the ups and downs of the franchise, especially since Kapono is a guy I'm not too sold on to be given starter money... Yet. But that's probably my white-man bias is kicking in.

[shadowgrin]

Mo-Pete is one of my favorite lefty players. Second only to Michael Redd.

More assists for Chris Paul.

[Axel]

The Hornets will be in the playoffs. They were good enough this past season to make it, but Peja missed nearly the entire season. David West and Chris Paul also missed huge parts of the season as well.

Hornets will win 47 games or so next year barring another season of injuries.

[Fitzy]

daaamn, thats a good move from the hornets, with a healthy peja there looking very dangerous

c- chandler
pf- west
sf- peja
sg- peterson
pg- paul

then mason off the bench, if they keep him

[The X]

daaamn, thats a good move from the hornets, with a healthy peja there looking very dangerous

c- chandler
pf- west
sf- peja
sg- peterson
pg- paul

then mason off the bench, if they keep him

don't forget Hilton Armstrong & Jannero Pargo etc off the bench

[Axel]

They haven't lost Devin Brown this offseason have they? They also have Rasual Butler.

Great shooters... Butler, Brown, Peterson, Peja... West even stretches the floor as a big man with a very effective mid range shot. If they're healthy, CP3 will have no problem driving to the basket.

Gotta love that potential line up.

[Its_asdf]

daaamn, thats a good move from the hornets, with a healthy peja there looking very dangerous

c- chandler
pf- west
sf- peja
sg- peterson
pg- paul

then mason off the bench, if they keep him

I'm pretty confident Mason will be gone. His game doesn't really seem to mesh well with Paul and the Hornets, I'd love for him to go somewhere else and get back to how he was playing with the Bucks.

[Andrew]

They haven't lost Devin Brown this offseason have they?

Not yet, but he is a free agent.

[Fitzy]

mason is a fa too, but i think he will be gone as well

[Dean]

RealGM is saying that they wont resign him..

[NovU]

am i the only one thinking mo pete isn't a great addition for hornets?

[shadowgrin]

Why don't you state your reason why.

[Ty-Land]

I would have thought the Hornets would be more interested in keeping Mason around but Mo-Pete's a good pickup. I would expect the Bucks will pursue Mason further with this development though there's going to be a bit of a logjam there as well, though Ruben Patterson is a free agent as well. The Bucks have already committed around $10 million per year to Bobby Simmons over the next three years as well so it could become quite an expensive rotation at small forward if Mason returns to Milwaukee.

Bucks are very interested apparently, but Mason is apparently after 8million per year according to RealGM. He can get stuffed for the price. I would have preffered Mo Pete, but Mason does provide some athleticism and leadership to the Bucks squad.

I can assure you that there is a 0% chance Patterson is back for several reasons: 1) he has the same agent as Yi who has really pissed off harris and Kohl, 2) Ruben has worn out his welcome with Harris/Kohl (don't know details but know that this is fact); 3) doesn't play within defensive schemes; 4) he has just been fined for failing to register as a sexual offender in Wisconsin; 5) Senator Kohl doesn't want to have voters associating him with a sexual offender, making 4 more important.

[Andrew]

Letting him walk would certainly clear some room in the rotation then. Getting Mason for $8 mil per year wouldn't be too bad by current standards.

[Ty-Land]

If we sign Mason for $8 million per year I will cry. Mo Williams is worth that much, but mason is barely worth $4 mil. I would rather throw money at Pietrus or Singleton, or pick up Adams off waivers.