Avery Johnson to take over in the offseason?

[Newman]

At least one team executive in attendance was convinced the Hornets are going after New Orleans native (and current ESPN analyst) Avery Johnson in the offseason to take over on the bench for GM-turned-coach Jeff Bower.

 

"I just think that job's got Avery's name written all over it," the exec said.

 

We'll see. What the exec couldn't answer is whether the Hornets will be willing to spend on a coach in the offseason after spending the regular season obsessed with shaving $3.3 million off the current payroll to get under the luxury-tax threshold. There are other unanswered questions, too, including whether Bower would return to his GM-only status in that scenario.

 

Also unknown: Would the hard-driving Johnson and the equally demanding Chris Paul be a fit?

 

Here's what we do know: Next season will be the last season on Johnson's old coaching contract with the Mavericks, which pays him an estimated $4 million annually.

 

From this article on ESPN

 

It seems out of reach that they'll hire an expensive coach considering they would re-hire Tim Floyd as the main assistant coach despite his terrible record in the NBA and considering that none of their former head coaches had a really great reputation (Byron Scott maybe, but rumour has it that his assistant coaches does most of the work during his stint with the Nets. He might've been involved with the Hornets but his reputation didn't really increase after his stint with them anyway.), would Avery Johnson be the right fit for the Hornets?

Edited January 10, 2010 by Drizzy

[JWaLL]

I wouldn't bank on this Hornets fans. Just because you guys want him doesn't mean he wants you. It's possible, but not likely.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Bulletproof

[Art]

I would ove to get him he does seem like the perfect fit. High on defense and our team core are mostly good defensive players.