Over the past few weeks there has been much speculation around the NBA about the New Orleans Hornets off-season plans. Most importantly, the franchise from Louisiana is facing the tough challenge of increasing the depth of their team without going further into luxury tax territory. Like other teams in small markets, the Hornets experienced significant financial problems due to the stagnant economy and are not willing to take on more salary.

Unfortunately, New Orleans does not have much talent on their bench and had to realize that their All-Stars Chris Paul and David West were not enough to make a playoff run in the tough Western Conference last season. Earlier this summer, GM Jeff Bower swapped center Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor which was largely considered to be a lateral move. However, the franchise apparently found a way to shed some cost without any significant loss in talent on the court. Yesterday, the Hornets’ front office announced that Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second round pick were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Darius Songeila and Bobby Brown.

In 2008-09, backup point guard Antonio Daniels appeared in 74 games averaging 4.1 points and 2.4 assists. On the other hand, Daniels only got to play 13 minutes per game behind Chris Paul and could be able to make a bigger impact in Minnesota. Thus, it may not be an entirely bad move to take on more salary in exchange for a solid veteran who can provide some leadership for the rejuvenated Wolves team. In contrast, the Lithuanian forward Darius Songeila put up 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game for the Washington Wizards last year.

Given the fact that the Timberwolves are swapping two point guards with equal stats raises some questions. Moreover, they are throwing in Songeila as well as taking on more salary in the long run. In fact, the only feasible explanation appears to be that they are not confident entering the season with rookie Johnny Flynn and sophomore Bobby Brown running the show. Nonetheless, it seems a little odd considering that GM Bower was willing to do just the same thing with Ricky Rubio paired up with Flynn before the Spaniard signed a six-year deal in Barcelona last week. Taking everything into consideration the Hornets appear to get the better end the deal, although Minnesota could benefit from Daniels’ veteran leadership.

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