The New Orleans Hornets are involved in Chris Paul(notes) trade talks, and according to sources involved in the talks, have targeted guards Stephen Curry(notes) and Eric Gordon(notes). ESPN is reporting that the Hornets are talking with the Los Angeles Clippers about acquiring Gordon and simultaneously talking with the Golden State Warriors about trading for Curry.

Both Golden State and Los Angeles have worked hard to build up a roster through the draft, and youth is the best asset that those two franchises currently have. With the Clippers, Gordon, DeAndre Jordan(notes) and Blake Griffin(notes) comprise three good young players. On the Warriors, Curry and newly drafted Klay Thompson(notes) from Washington State University give that team a lot of depth on the roster as well. Now the Hornets would like to take some of that youth in exchange for an All-Star point guard.

Trades like these ones are always easier if the parts would stay in place for several seasons. The problem is that Paul is in the last year of his contract with the Hornets, so if he gets traded, he could still hit free agency in the next offseason. The Warriors and Clippers need guarantees that Paul is willing to sign a contract extension; otherwise it doesn’t make sense to give up assets like Gordon or Curry. Curry is becoming a star for the Warriors, and he could join the ranks of big NBA stars if the team actually started winning ballgames.

It sure seems like Paul is going to get traded by New Orleans before the beginning of the regular season, but it is equally unclear which franchise is going to join the deal. There are certainly a few teams that could use a nice rental like Paul for the 2011-12 season, but several top contenders would love to give up spare parts to get him. The New York Knicks probably want him the most, but have zero real assets to offer in return. Then there is the Boston Celtics, who could offer someone like Rajon Rondo(notes), but also get no guarantee that Paul will stay after this year.

A deal is out there with the Los Angeles Lakers if the Hornets would take either Pau Gasol(notes) or Andrew Bynum(notes) in a trade, but neither is a player that will put people in the seats for years to come. They are good players when healthy, but they just don’t have the talent level to take over games by themselves. That’s what Paul offers and teams around the league fully realize the value he could bring in a blockbuster trade.

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Sources:

NBA Main Website

Yahoo NBA Site

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a hard-core NBA fan that looks forward to an exciting 2011-12 season now that the lockout has come to an end. Ryan is also a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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The New Orleans Hornets have their eyes wide open and know they are going to have to trade Chris Paul. The Orlando Magic are holding out more hope of retaining Dwight Howard but that feels like a longshot as well. The front offices in both cities have to be gauging offers right now, or they are not doing their jobs.

But if they are both looking to make a deal, do they both want to deal with the Lakers? Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that may make it a race between the two sides.

Why? You’re not going to get equal value back when you trade your superstar, but Andrew Bynum comes about as close as it gets. And the Lakers will part with him.

In a lot of ways, the Hornets and Orlando Magic are in a race to make a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for Paul and Howard. They’re running so many scenarios across the big boards in their offices, but make no mistake: Los Angeles is the port that can entice Paul and Howard to sign extensions, with the one player – young center Andrew Bynum – as a centerpiece that can justify the trade.

The Lakers and Hornets talked several days ago, league sources told Yahoo! Sports, but it was one of those circuitous conversations that left the sides unclear what it would take to get a deal done, and the talk ended with no formal offers. The Lakers and Hornets expect to speak again this week, sources said. The prospect of Pau Gasol as the primary player going to the Hornets won’t be acceptable, sources said. The Lakers will ultimately be willing to let New Orleans pick its player in the deal – Bynum or Gasol – but New Orleans is determined to get quality, and quantity, in a deal.

The Nets will offer Brook Lopez and picks, but most teams would rather have Bynum than Lopez. That seems like a fallback.

For the Lakers, Chris Paul gives them the missing athleticism and someone who could be very good on the pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol. Dwight Howard upgrades them in the paint and gives them a younger star to transition with in the post-Kobe Bryant era.

We’ll see if this happens, however. After a lockout filled with talk of competitive balance could the league-owned Hornets send Chris Paul off to the Lakers to form another trio of stars? Would the other owners tolerate that from David Stern? As for the Magic, could they trade Dwight Howard to the franchise that took Shaquille O’Neal away from them? There would be fan backlash.

Which is a way of saying we are a long way from a deal either way here. But the Lakers may have the best offer out there and that is going to count for something.

For the first time since coming on board last summer, New Orleans Hornets Coach Monty Williams will have to fill a vacancy on his staff after lead assistant Mike Malone’s departure Tuesday.

Through a text message, Malone said he joined the Golden State Warriors as their top assistant on newly hired Mark Jackson’s staff.

“Been a crazy few days, traveling back to N.O. today,’’ Malone wrote. “I have accepted the job with the Warriors.’’

Malone also was being courted by new Los Angeles Lakers Coach Mike Brown, who offered him their lead assistant job.

Two weeks ago, Malone interviewed for Golden State’s head-coaching vacancy, and he was a candidate for the Houston Rockets’ head-coaching vacancy that was filled by Kevin McHale.

When Malone’s name began to emerge for head-coaching vacancies in April, Williams said he expected teams to come after him.

“I know he’s held in high regard throughout the league, and it’s only a matter of time,’’ Williams said.

Before Williams hired Malone, he had spent five seasons as an assistant with Cleveland. Malone’s father, Brendan Malone, is an assistant with the Orlando Magic and a former head coach of the Cavaliers.

Malone has earned a reputation as a defensive mastermind, helping the Hornets finish fifth in the league in fewest points allowed at 94.9 per game.

“Michael Malone is a guy who I’ve known for quite some time,’’ Jackson said. “They gave me the opportunity to establish my own staff, and he was a guy who I’ve targeted throughout the course of not just this process, but when I’ve interviewed before.

“We had an understanding that I would come after him. It’s truly a great day in Warriorland that we were able to get a guy like Mike Malone because I have tremendous respect for his passion, his knowledge, his commitment. He’s an extremely loyal guy. It’s a big-time hire for us.”

Hornets President Hugh Weber said Malone helped integrate the defensive system used by Williams.

“We all talked about that Mike was going to have a strong future in this league,’’ Weber said. “So we’re not going to hold anybody back.’’

Weber said the Hornets have a plan in place and will be announcing soon whom Malone’s replacement will be.

John Reid can be reached at jreid@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3407.

New Orleans Hornets lead assistant coach Michael Malone has been offered the same position with the Los Angeles Lakers by newly named head coach Mike Brown, Malone said Tuesday.

But Brown, in Los Angeles for a press conference on Tuesday evening to formally announce his hiring by the Lakers, has yet to speak to Malone about contract specifics including length and compensation, but Malone said he expects a more detailed offer perhaps by the end of the week.

“Mike had called up to get permission to speak to me and Mike and I have spoken,” Malone said Tuesday. “After his press conference, we’ll talk some more about what he can offer in terms of years, money, contract, all that kind of stuff.

“There’s no guarantee. It’s potentially a very good opportunity. But at the same time, as I’ve been telling people, right now I still work for the New Orleans Hornets. Mike and I have spoken and he told me of his desire to bring me in as his lead assistant, but now he has to work out all the details.”

Malone said while the Lakers’ position would, on the surface, appear to be an advancing career move, he said the one year he has spent in New Orleans as Monty Williams lead assistant with the Hornets would complicate his ultimate decision whether to move or stay.

“Obviously one thing I’ve learned from my father (long-time NBA assistant Brendan Malone, currently in Orlando) and being around the game my whole life is is that in the end, I have to do what’s best for me, my wife and my two little girls,” Malone said. “That’s why if this offer in L.A. is what everybody says it’s going to be, it’s going to be difficult to stay in New Orleans. But this year working with Monty, Dell (Demps, general manager) and all the players we had on this team – and this is not just coach talk, it’s being sincere – we had a great season.

“I think we surprised a lot of people. But the exciting thing about it is we think we can be even better. If we add a couple of pieces here and there, and we all have a year under our belt as a staff and a team, we have our foundation for success. I tell people, talk about being in an unbelievable position, me having an opportunity to go to the Lakers, it’s not like staying in New Orleans is a consolation prize. There’s a lot of positives to being here and being Monty’s lead assistant coach. What we accomplished this year, we know we can build off of next year. It will have to be a very good offer for me to leave New Orleans.”

Malone was an assistant coach under Brown with the Cleveland Cavaliers for five seasons before joining the Hornets prior to this year.