FanHouse New Orleans

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
The Shootouts (it sounds nicer than the "Aints"). Not that New Orleans can't be good -- they can. And they're a nice unit for fantasy football teams, because, in theory, they have a ton of offense. But theorizing is fine until you end up burning through three top 50 picks, which is what Drew Brees, Marques Colston and Reggie Bush will cost you.

The Breakout
Perhaps I'm being old fashioned, but Deuce McAllister seems to me like the best possible "breakout" option on this team. Sure, he's gone through more ACL's than Alonzo Mourning has kidneys, but the Saints can't function without a strong between the tackles runner. Oh, and he "don't cost nuthin'!" Which, to me, is the ideal scenario for finding a breakout -- cheap, easy and late.

The Bust
I thought that people had stopped sweating Bush, but judging from his ADP (30), I guess not. Seriously, he's going 30th. (30!!!) It just goes to show how much potential, upside, etc can drive someone's fantasy value. Anywho, I wouldn't draft Reginald with your pick, personally. What justifies taking him? The 3.7 YPC last year or the 3.6 the year before? Granted, the 80+ catches per year are nice, and he's a nice RB2 in PPR leagues but let someone else fall prey.

Chris Paul is considered a member of that group of players that includes Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and others at the elite level, all of which had contracts set to expire after 2009/2010 through a variety of mechanisms. It would appear that at least one of them is happy where he's at.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that Paul and the Hornets have agreed in principle to a three-year extension, with an option for a fourth year that brings the total value to $68 million dollars. The deal will keep him with the Hornets a while longer. It's a huge signing for the smaller market Hornets, and gives them a foundation for success for the next five years.

On a day where sadness seems to pervade the Internet regarding the Sonics departure from Seattle, its ironic that such a feel-good story as Paul signing a long term deal with what was a struggling franchise happens. Why? Because without the overwhelming and enthusiastic support of the citizens of Oklahoma City who did such a dastardly thing as "actually coming to the games," the Hornets might not have gotten enough support to even stay in New Orleans, where people are now actually coming to the games. Interesting. Of course, on the flip side, if it hadn't been for Paul's outstanding play, Oklahoma City may not have gotten so enthused about the NBA, which precipitated Clay Bennett's chicanery. It's the circle of life. Or at least greed, money, and marketability.

The third-place Yankees are in no position to deal with yet another distraction (Hank said what?! A-Rod is sleeping with who?!), but it's possible that Andy Pettitte, the team's best and most reliable pitcher this year, may be called in to testify in the defamation suit brought against Brian McNamee by Roger Clemens.

According to the New York Daily News, one of the claims Clemens is making against McNamee is that McNamee defamed Clemens by telling Pettitte Clemens used PEDs. McNamee's lawyer, Richard Emery, wants the judge to determine if the statute of limitations on that claim has passed, and doing so may require a hearing in which Pettitte will be forced to leave the Yankees and testify.

Sounds bad for the Yankees, right? It could get even worse. Emery has also requested that the defamation suit be moved from Houston to New York, which would allow Emery to subpeona a long list of witnesses, which includes Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Mariano Rivera, as well as team trainers and doctors.

All of a sudden, dealing with paparrazi on the A-Rod/Madonna beat doesn't seem too bad.

If you (note: Hubie Brown voice) are the New Orleans Hornets and you have a point guard under your control who is going to be a free agent in a few years, and you know that you need him to be competitive for an NBA title in a smaller market, you lock him up.

The Hornets -- despite notoriously "frugal" owner George Shinn's ways -- are doing just that, as John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune is reporting that Chris Paul and NOLA are getting ready to reach an agreement on a max-deal four or five year extension.

"We're going to try and get it done in the next 24 to 48 hours once I get down there,'' [Paul's agent Lance] Young said by telephone. "I think if you go back and look, there's nobody who did a three-year deal of all the max deals done in the last few years. I would say three years is not what he is going to do. It will be a four or a five-year deal.''

Paul's contract will range from $60 million to $80 million, depending on the length. Young said he and Bower spoke by telephone on Tuesday, the first day teams could begin negotiating contracts with free agents.

Let's be perfectly clear: if you are the the New Orleans Hornets, you give Chris Paul whatever money and how many ever years he wants. He is most certainly one of the top five players in the league, and while many might take Kobe or LeBron if they were starting a team, I think Paul is a legitimate candidate.

And even if you disagree, Paul was most certainly an MVP candidate last year, most certainly the reason for the Hornets resurgence and most certainly worthy of this kind of contract.

Paul Allen's riches keep stocking Kevin Pritchard's cupboards, don't they? Last June, the Blazers bought James Jones and the pick which became Rudy Fernandez from the cash-strapped Suns. On Tuesday, word got out that Pritchard had pilfered away the #27 pick from New Orleans for the standard fee of $3 million.

Recent dispatches from the excellent Hornets 24/7 indicated N.O. didn't seem too likely to fall in love with any prospects expected to be available, so the sale of the pick isn't surprising. The identity of the buyer, though, is a bit surprising. As Henry Abbott notes, Portland already has too many players and too many picks (three second-rounders this year, plus #13 overall). Plain as day, Pritchard looks like he wants to move up into the top-10, possibly to grab either Joe Alexander or D.J. Augustin, both of whom impressed in workouts.

Maybe that's not the play at all, though. Here's my crackpot spoon theory: Allen wants to tap into the European market in a big way, so he's building a second pro basketball roster with the aim of purchasing a Europe-based club. He could stock the Blazers and the Euro club each summer based on needs out of his pool of 20 or so players (plus whatever free agents he needs). Raef LaFrentz and Channing Frye would destroy the Adriatic League!

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Now that the Birdman (Ka-kaw) is back, the Hornets are really only one or two pieces away from contending for a championship that they could have won last year anyway. Which makes this pick tough -- New Orleans certainly has needs, but whether or not those can be immediately answered at 27 will determine whether they actually end up pulling the trigger on any first rounders.

Picks: #27

Needs: A scorer from the two. They need some frontcourt depth too, but they can acquire that without having to use a draft pick. Not to mention an immediate offensive impact shooting guard takes the pressure off of Peja and Chris Paul (vis a vis Jannero Pargo seeing more minutes at the point).

Best case scenario: Chris Douglas-Roberts or Courtney Lee somehow drops to the Hornets in the first ... which a lot of mocks actually have happening. I think they gets pulled on before then but, oh, the three letter nicknames we'd see. Give me a second, I'll figure something out for Lee.

The NCAA is set to announce the host cities for the 2012 through 2016 Final Fours. Ten cities have put in bids for the event ... meaning half will go home disappointed.

Ranking the field:

1-Indianapolis: This is NCAA headquarters and they love having the Final Four here. Since the 2010 Final Four will be held in Indy, expect the new Lucas Oil Field to get the 2015 or 2016 event.

2-New Orleans: The NCAA loves N'Awlins (four previous trips) and it will have been at least a decade since the last one at the Superdome (2003). The dome seems to be in fine shape and they are also trying to land a Super Bowl in the (somewhat) near future. I think the NCAA gets this done in 2013 or 2014.

3-Phoenix: I think that Phoenix/Glendale is the next great stop for sporting events. The Super Bowl was a huge success a the new stadium and I think the Final Four would love to grab some of that. I see the 2012 or 2013 Final Four getting awarded here.

4-San Antonio: San Antonio has become a bit of a great place to have a Final Four. They have had three of them from 1998 to 2008. I think the love affair could continue with the 2016 event. However, one strike against the Alamodome could be that they have been there quite a bit of late.

5-North Texas: The new digs and the potentially amazing capacity makes this very, very attractive. Imagine over 100,000 watching the NCAA Championship game! It could happen. The strike against it could be the fact that this means over-Texas-ing this event (San Antonio in '08, Houston in '11 and now Dallas?). If Dallas pulls this off, it could steal San Antonio's bid down the road.

It was exactly a week ago today that I guessed that the Saints would announce a contract extension for defensive end Will Smith before the week ended. I was a few days late on that prediction, but I won't let that stop me from giving myself dap (do the kids still say that?) in noting that the deal was announced today. And Smith is a very rich man.

The extension calls for Smith to earn up to $70 million over six years, with $26 million in guaranteed money. The deal places him third on the list of highest-paid ends behind Jared Allen and Dwight Freeney, but Smith's deal isn't far behind either of those two. It also trumps the seven-year, $63 million deal with $20 million that linemate Charles Grant got a summer ago. So was it worth it?

Well, who knows. Smith was on his way to being a premiere pass-rusher before fattening up and playing poorly last year. New line coach Ed Orgeron is trying to install a scheme much like the Giants' (who isn't?), which relies on lighter, faster linemen, so Smith will have the opportunity to remind everyone that he's got the ability. Whether he takes advantage remains to be seen.

Either way, from a talent, PR, and chemistry standpoint the Saints couldn't afford to see Smith walk after this year, and they had/have plenty of cap room. But with the money tied in its ends, the team will be hearing some deserved scorn from its fanbase if they're not a terror for quarterbacks.

While some find yesterday's announcement that the Saints have fired vice president of player personnel Rick Mueller intriguing because of what it means for Sean Payton's role with the team, there's another aspect of the news that interests me.

After all, anyone who's followed the Saints since Payton has arrived knows that he's been the personnel decision-maker all along; removing Mueller just makes it official. More importantly, the team has hired Khai Harley as vice president of football operations to replace Russ Ball, who left for a similar position in Green Bay.

Harley will manage the salary cap and conduct contract negotiations in New Orleans. What fascinates me about this hire is what he's got on his C.V. Namely, five years as manager of labor operations with the NFL management council, where his main responsibility was making sure contracts were compliant with the CBA and the NFL's constitution and bylaws. He's also got extensive knowledge of where the CBA talks are and where they're going.

As things are beginning to get hectic, teams have to consider contracts with regards not only to the current CBA, but to a potential work stoppage and future CBA as well. That being said, it makes sense for a team to hire a supposed "expert" in that department to handle contracts. It's just another sign, if we needed any more, that we're entering the real muck of the labor dispute.

I noted that Will Smith's attendance at last weekend's minicamp was a good sign that he and the team are close to finalizing a contract extension, or at least negotiating in good faith.

I now am optimistic that a formal announcement will come sometime this week, perhaps even later today. Smith reported on WWL radio last night that he didn't have any good news to report on the contract front but that he might in the near future. Likewise, Sean Payton, in response to a question about whether Smith's contract had been "sorted out," said, "...when the time comes there will be an announcement," indicating it's more about the when than the if.

The subject of the extension is a divisive one. After getting $63 million last offseason, Charles Grant practically disappeared. Smith will surely command even more, especially with big money deals to Dwight Freeney and Jared Allen since. Smith's a very good player, but it remains to be seen whether he deserves the top-tier pay he will surely get.

On the other hand, he is the team's best defensive player and you can't let a guy like that walk when you're close to rebuilding that unit. The Saints are also around $25 million under the cap, which gives them plenty of room to sign all of their rookies and lock up Smith (and Marques Colston). So the money's there.

Either way, whether you're in favor of the extension or not, it's happening. And probably soon.