OK, so it's not even one month into the season, but the point guards have broken out to an early lead as the top rookies.

Chris Paul, drafted No.4 out of Wake Forest, is averaging 17 points, 6.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.09 steals as the Hornets are a surprising 5-5. Deron Williams, selected No.3 out of Illinois, has broken into the starting lineup for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, averaging 13.6 points and 5.1 assists.

But it's Paul who is earning most of the early accolades.

After he had 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists against the Timberwolves, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett said Paul reminded him of Stephon Marbury.

"He's what we call a guerrilla, a pit bull," Garnett said.

Paul had 25 points and 12 assists Friday against Atlanta, eliciting praise from Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

"He's legit," Woodson said. "He's doing it all, and he's leading his team."

Hornets coach Byron Scott won't argue.

"I think he's just going to get better as the season goes on," Scott told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "He's pretty comfortable in his role and understanding what we want him to do. Probably in another 10 or so games I'll be asking him to do more, maybe score more for us. But he's unselfish and wants to get it to everybody else and passes up shots for himself.

"When we were short-handed, he really looked to be more aggressive because he knew that's what we needed. I really think we might need that from him every night. Right now, he's just got an unbelievable feel for the game, especially for a 20-year-old. Besides LeBron [James], I haven't seen too many 20-year-olds who have that feel."

On any other night, Allen Iverson would have begged to go back in the game. On Monday, he was begging for extra rest.
Playing with flulike symptoms, Iverson scored all 24 of his points in the first half, then happily sat out the fourth quarter as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New Orleans Hornets 103-91.

"I didn't feel good at shootaround," said Iverson, who told coach Maurice Cheeks he was ailing as he prepared to go back in for the fourth quarter. "He just told me to come back, and fortunately everything worked out fine."

"I didn't feel good at all," he said. "I was dizzy out there for virtually the whole game. Once I stopped playing at halftime and came back in, I just never felt right. I think I'm coming down with something. I want to get home and take some medication and see how I feel in the morning."

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have assigned rookie forward Sean Banks to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.  Banks will continue to be included on the Hornets' roster and will remain on the team's Inactive List.

"Sean is a very talented player and we want to see him continue to develop his skills as part of our organization," said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower.  "Assigning him to the D-League will allow him to see much more time on the court and allow him to grow as a professional while we monitor that development."

Before Milwaukee sent Desmond Mason to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, the Bucks and Nuggets discussed the possibility of sending Mason to Denver for forward Nene.

"There was a lot of things going on with that," Mason said. "But I don't know how close they really got to doing that deal. We heard the same types of things. But (the Bucks) said they said there wasn't going to be a trade, so that's where we left it."

According to Sports Illustrated, New Orleans rookie Chris Paul  is at the head of his class, overtaking first overall pick Andrew Bogut at the top of their rookie power rankings.

Can you imagine what the 2-3 Hornets would be like without Paul? Already an excellent ballhandler, Paul is a 3-point shot away from All-Star consideration. He poured in a career high 26 against Mavericks Saturday, writes Sports Illustrated.

Paul, Bogut, Jose Calderon, Deron Williams and Knick center Channing Frye close out the top 5.

Paul is averaging 15.4 points and 4.8 assists thus far this season.

Shooting guard J.R. Smith will miss tonight's game at Miami, and Wednesday night's game against Denver with a mild left ankle sprain, the team said Monday.

"It feels better today; I can put weight on it," said Smith, who sustained the injury late in Saturday night's loss to Dallas when Mavericks forward Josh Howard fell on the ankle as the two fought for a rebound.

For the second straight day, Smith reported no swelling in the ankle.

Trainer Terry Kofler said Monday that on a one-to-three scale of severity, with one being the least, Smith's low sprain "is a 1?. He'll miss the next two games, and we'll want to re-evaluate him on Thursday," Kofler said.

Jerry Stackhouse's right knee is improving, and he could return to practice Wednesday.

But a different sort of healing process was at work Saturday night in Oklahoma City.

Stackhouse took exception last season to what he thought were some cheap shots on the court by Utah's Kirk Snyder. After the game, Stackhouse confronted Snyder in the loading dock at American Airlines Center and they came to blows, with Stackhouse getting the best of Snyder.

Stackhouse paid the price by getting suspended for a game.

But Saturday, Snyder, who plays for New Orleans, told Stackhouse he deserved the lesson.

"He came up to me and said he appreciated it," Stackhouse said. "He said he learned you can't do certain things on the court just to show the coach something. I thought that was big of him."

Hornets guard J.R. Smith was walking with the aid of crutches Sunday and might miss Tuesday night's game at Miami and Wednesday night's game in Oklahoma City against the Denver Nuggets, Coach Byron Scott said.

Smith, on the other hand, says he'll play against the Heat.

"It's hurting a little bit, but I'll be back by Tuesday," said Smith, who sprained his left ankle with 1:15 remaining in Saturday night's 109-103 loss at Dallas when Mavericks forward Josh Howard fell on it as the two scrambled for a rebound under the Mavericks' goal. "The bottom of my ankle is twitching on the outside, but I'll be OK. We'll see tomorrow."

Smith reported no swelling in the ankle but said the crutches were used as a precaution.

Scott said trainer Terry Kofler told him it's possible Smith could be out a couple of games.

"It's not weight-bearing," Scott said. "I don't see him being able to play Tuesday. And if he doesn't play Tuesday, I don't see him playing Wednesday. We'll see. He knows his body better than I do, and obviously better than Terry.

"But we'll see how it feels (today), then see what he can do at shootaround on Tuesday, how he feels, and go from there."

No X-rays or MRIs are scheduled.

Set to face a team that features four players listed at 7 feet or taller, Hornets coach Byron Scott said he is flirting with the idea of activating his only 7-foot player, Maciej Lampe, for Saturday's game against the Dallas Mavericks.

But all that will depend on the outcome of a CT scan and MRI exam Lampe was to have Thursday on his aching left foot. Results are expected today.

Lampe was bothered during training camp by a sore left toe, and he has been on the team's inactive list for the first four games. He sat out Thursday's light practice.

"In the earlier stages of my career, I had a stress fracture in this foot; the toe and the heel are bothering me now," Lampe said. "For a while it was feeling good. I was practicing and working out. Then one day in practice, I couldn't get on my toe. So we'll see what they say. It's just one of those things you have to deal with. The pain now goes through the whole foot when I flex those muscles."

The phones are ringing and somewhere in the NBA panic may be setting in, yet Rob Babcock says it's not time to pull the trigger on a trade. Yet.

With some teams starting to realize they may not be as good as they thought they were, the Raptor general manager said early trade discussions have begun but that nothing is expected to come of any recent conversation.

"To me, it's too early," Babcock said yesterday. "You need to go longer than a week but the phone calls have been picking up."

But it's not as if Babcock hasn't been talking significant moves.

Two sources close to current Milwaukee centre Jamaal Magloire insist the New Orleans Hornets called the Raptors with serious enquiries before shipping the Toronto native to the Bucks two weeks ago but no deal could be worked out.

And one adviser to New York president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas is already suggesting to people around the league that the struggling Knicks could easily be persuaded to take Toronto's Jalen Rose.

The expiring contract of Penny Hardaway, worth about $15.7 million this season (all figures U.S.) might make sense in a deal and the Knicks twice expressed interest in Rose last season ? in November when Vince Carter was traded and again at the trade deadline.

Toronto would save nearly $17 million in salary next year, allowing Babcock to have enough room under the expected tax level to pay the full mid-level exception to a free agent.