MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies have swapped guard Greivis Vasquez to the New Orleans Hornets for guard/forward Quincy Pondexter in a move designed to boost their depth with Darrell Arthur out for the season.

The Grizzlies announced earlier Sunday they signed Dante Cunningham after Charlotte failed to match an offer. Then they later announced the trade with New Orleans.

The 6-foot-6 Pondexter averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds in 33 minutes in two preseason games against Memphis. The 23-year-old averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 66 games as a rookie with New Orleans last season after being the 26th pick overall by Oklahoma City in 2010 before being traded to New Orleans.

Vasquez played in 70 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists as a rookie with Memphis last season.

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In his preseason debut, newly acquired New Orleans Hornets center Chris Kaman made a strong first impression in Wednesday night’s preseason finale against the Memphis Grizzlies. With Emeka Okafor sitting out to rest, Kaman made a big presence inside from his scoring ability off pick-and-roll plays that helped the Hornets rout the Grizzlies 95-80 at the New Orleans Arena.

Kaman finished with 18 points and had four rebounds in 23 minutes.

The Hornets acquired Kaman, guard Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu last week in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for four-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

The trio made their much anticipated debut Wednesday and Gordon had 17 points and Aminu scored six.

It was the kind of performance to make Coach Monty Williams feel encouraged with less than a week to prepare for their season opener against Phoenix Suns.

Though they are still learning Williams’system, Kaman, Gordon and Aminu all gave glimpses of what they can become to help the Hornets.

When Jarrett Jack’s or Gordon’s drives were cut off by Grizzlies defenders, they looked frequently to Kaman, who attacked the basket for layups. Kaman started the game hitting five of his first nine shots.

Gordon delivered from the perimeter, hitting three of five shots from behind the 3-point-line. In 29 minutes, Gordon also showed he can handle ball under pressure on the perimeter and spot open shooters quickly. He had four assists and grabbed four rebounds.

Aminu was unable to provide much offensively, but he made an impact by forcing Grizzlies star Rudy Gay into taking difficult shots. At the start of the game, Gay had little trouble establishing his rhythm against small forward Quincy Pondexter, who started in place of Trevor Ariza, who sat out the game.

Gay made his first six shots before Aminu came in and forced him to miss his first attempt. Aminu, though, became overaggressive during a stretch in the first half, picking up three fouls in seven minutes. He ended the game with five fouls.

Kaman missed 50 games with an ankle injury last season for the Clippers, but he’s fully recovered now and it was evident by the way he ran floor. He was quick to cover defensively, especially on the high post and when the Hornets pushed the pace offensively, he got to spots quickly.

Rookie Lance Thomas, whom Williams said has practiced well, started ahead of Kaman. But once Kaman entered early in the first quarter, he dominated the minutes.

For this season, Williams plans to use various lineups this season that could have Kaman and Okafor on the floor together.

A priority for Williams, however, was seeing how well his team would defend a tough Grizzlies team that have proven scorers with forward Zach Randolph and Gay. But the Hornets held Memphis to only 17 points in the second quarter and just 16 in the third. For the game, the Grizzlies shot 37.8 percent.

“We’re a defense-first team and it takes talent to run the kind of defense we run,’’ Williams said.

After slow start, Pondexter got his rhythm established and finished with 14 points. Forward Jason Smith, who signed a three-year contract last week, delivered with clutch shooting and he was active around the post defensively. He made 6-of-12 shots for 12 points.

Trying to earn a roster spot, New Orleans native Carldell “Squeaky’’ Johnson didn’t score 10 points in the fourth quarter like in did in last Friday’s 97-90 preseason victory against the Grizzlies. However, Johnson made a no-look pass to Kaman in the first quarter. He finished the game with tow point and four assists. Trey Johnson, also contending for the backup spot, had four points in nine minutes.

The five must-see New Orleans Hornets games this season. Check out the full schedule here.

Dec. 28 vs. Boston Celtics. The regular-season home opener, nearly two months late, provides fans with perhaps the final opportunity to see the Celtics’ “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. It’s unlikely Boston will be able to keep this group together beyond this year. And it will give fans the chance to see just what kind of Hornets’ roster the team will have put together in the compressed free-agency period, as well as whether New Orleans was successful in retaining Chris Paul and re-signing forward David West.

Jan. 11 vs. Oklahoma City. This will be the only opportunity for New Orleans’ fans to see the Thunder, expected by many to contend this season for the Western Conference title. Oklahoma City is led by reigning NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant and point guard Russell Westbrook, one of the most potent combinations in the league. The Thunder pushed eventual NBA champion Dallas to the brink in the conference finals last summer. OKC plays just this one game in New Orleans Arena.

Jan. 21 vs. Dallas Mavericks. The defending NBA champion, with NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, aging point guard Jason Kidd and the league’s most dynamic off-the-bench player, Jason Terry, play the first of two games against the Hornets in New Orleans, where Dallas has had recent difficulty winning. It’s uncertain whether the Mavs will have retained the rights to former Hornets center Tyson Chandler, a free agent, who was an integral part of the Mavs’ first-ever championship in beating the Miami Heat.

Feb. 8 vs. Chicago Bulls. The best player in the league – at least that’s what it said on his most valuable player trophy last year – Derrick Rose brings the Bulls here for a game that was originally scheduled as the Hornets’ regular-season opener on Nov. 2. It just takes place three months later than expected, thanks to the 149-day lockout. Rose leads a young Bulls team that is expected to seriously challenge the star-studded Miami Heat for the Eastern Conference title.

March 14 vs. Los Angeles Lakers. That’s a long time to wait for the Lakers, who eliminated the Hornets in six games in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, to make their only appearance in New Orleans Arena. And less than one month later, sandwiched around the Hornets’ only game against L.A. on its home floor (not counting two against the Clippers who also play in Staples Center), the Lakers return to New Orleans on April 9.

The beginning and end of the New Orleans Hornets newly released schedule pose favorable scenarios for a fast start and a similar ending, depending, of course, upon what kind of roster the team can put together before opening night. Check out the full schedule here.

NBA schedule-makers could have been much harsher on the Hornets this season, but New Orleans gets by with just one back-to-back-to-back set of games out of possible three, while the entirety of the compressed 66-game slate released by the NBA Tuesday night looks quite similar to the original schedule made moot by the 149-day lockout.

New Orleans opens the season on the road Dec. 26 against the Phoenix Suns, as expected because the building adjacent to New Orleans Arena will be busy as the Saints play a Monday Night game against the Falcons.

Yet half of the Hornets’ games this season will take place as originally scheduled, including what becomes the regular-season home opener on Dec. 28 against the Boston Celtics.

The shortened schedule also benefits the Hornets in that they’ll play defending champion and Southwest Division foe Dallas only three times – two at home – instead of the customary four. The same holds for Houston.

New Orleans picked up one additional nationally televised game by one of the league’s cable network affiliates. In the original schedule, as well as the new one, the Hornets play the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 17, televised by ESPN.

But the league also gave the Hornets another national game, this on TNT, at Golden State on April 24. Six other games will be televised by NBA TV, and Cox Sports Television will telecast 65 of the 66 games, the exception being that TNT game against the Warriors.

Of the 33 games on the new schedule identical to the original schedule released in July, 19 Hornets’ home games retain the same date and opponent, while the same can be said for 13 games on the road.

There was one marquee casualty from the two months lost to the lockout: New Orleans fans will not receive a visit by defending Eastern Conference champion Miami, though the Hornets play at Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh on Jan. 30.

The Knicks, originally scheduled to play the Hornets here on April 4, will not play in New Orleans Arena this year.

On the road, the Hornets will not travel to Boston, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington or Philadelphia and make only one visit against the Lakers, while Los Angeles, and new coach Mike Brown, come to New Orleans Arena twice, on March 14 and April 9.

The Hornets will play 12 Eastern Conference teams just once and three (Chicago, Charlotte and Indiana) twice.

An interesting wrinkle because of the shortened schedule – 16 games were eliminated from the customary 82-game calendar – is several back-to-back home games in New Orleans Arena including three in March, the penultimate month of the season.

The NBA is extending the regular season until April 26, with an expected start of the first round of the playoffs one week later than customary, on April 28.

New Orleans will play 10 of its first 17 and 12 of the first 19 games this season at home, including two in December (Celtics and Suns on Dec. 30) and 10 in January, a month that features four road-home back-to-backs. The Hornets were 28-13 last season in New Orleans Arena.

There are several pockets of the schedule that appear daunting.

The Hornets will play five games in eight nights away from home from Feb. 15-22 (including the only back-to-back-to-back), four games on the road in five nights Mar. 5-10, and five game in seven nights away from Mar. 26-Apr. 1.

April’s schedule could prove to be critical.

The Hornets have their longest home stand of the season, five games, from April 7-15 when teams could be jockeying for playoff position.

Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3814.