A new lawsuit filed against the New Orleans Hornets claims the team deprived sales personnel of commissions by falsely recording sales of private suites as if they were group ticket sales in less expensive sections -- a practice that also could have resulted in inflated attendance figures.

The lawsuit is one of several new actions filed this week against the Hornets, who already were accused of failing to pay overtime in a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year. There are 12 plaintiffs in that first case, one of whom still works for the team.

The new legal actions include a request for a protective order, filed in response to allegations in sworn affidavits, that Hornets executives have sought to intimidate other employees who might qualify to join the federal overtime lawsuit by threatening firings and bad references, which would be illegal. The request also alleges that certain executives have made false statements about the lawsuit in an effort to discourage employees from participating.

"This is not something you want to put your name on, because you will never get a good reference of this place," Hornets executive Christy McKearn told former employee Chris Stant during his exit interview, according to an affidavit.

While some of the plaintiffs were fired, Stant quit, despite executives' urging him to stay, because of what he termed "unbearable" working conditions and his director's "questionable business practices," the affidavit said.

The New Orleans Hornets have signed Lithuanian shooting guard Arvydas Macijauskas to a three-year contract.

His agent Marc Fleisher believes he will be a good fit for the team.

"We looked at a lot of teams, but we thought New Orleans is a great place where he will have an opportunity to hopefully contribute right away," Fleisher said. "I think he plays a very exciting flamboyant style of basketball, and I think he will be a huge crowd favorite."

"He's the best shooter outside of the NBA, and a lot of people in the NBA would tell you that he probably would be one of the two or three best shooters in the NBA," Fleisher said. "He's phenomenal at the foul line, and he gets there frequently. He drives very well, and he's much more than an outside shooter. He can put the ball on the floor and can go hard.

Macijauskas is expected to start for the Hornets at shooting guard with J.R. Smith moving to small forward.

The New Orleans Hornets top draft pick, point guard Chris Paul, sprained his wrist Friday night in a Vegas Summer League game.

X-Rays came back negative, revealing no real damage according to GM Allan Bristow.

Canada has only two players in the National Basketball Association, and Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail writes that it appears there's a rift between them over a basketball game.

Jamaal Magloire, the Toronto-born star of the New Orleans Hornets, is reported to be upset with the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, the league's most valuable player, because Nash is staging his charity all-star game in Toronto at the end of this month. Magloire thinks Toronto is his turf.

"Jamaal does a lot in Toronto for the community and he's really peeved that Steve got the game in the first place," said a person who did not want to be identified and who is close to the situation. "And he's also upset that Steve, at the very least, didn't call him in the early stages when the game was being put together just to give Jamaal the heads-up. It's just professional protocol."

Nash, who was raised in Victoria, told reporters in May that he was planning his first charity all-star game for the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on July 29. Stars such as Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley and Chris Bosh have confirmed they will participate.

"The opportunity came to us so quickly that we had to make a decision on the spot in order to get everything rolling," said Jenny Miller, the executive director of the Steve Nash Foundation. "So the thought never crossed Steve's mind to reject it. And he's spent so much time in Toronto, certainly not as much as Jamaal. But he loves Toronto. So it was a nice fit for him as a way to give back."

Magloire, an NBA all-star two years ago, lives in Toronto in the off-season and is heavily involved in community work. He did little this week to deflect any notion he is upset by Nash's decision to hold his all-star charity event in the city.

"That's a tough question," Magloire said when asked about the rift. "It's hard to be disgruntled, because my mind is always on bigger and better things. It doesn't do you any good getting into disagreements with Nash, or a pissing match.

"They're going to do their thing and I'm going to do mine."

The New Orleans Hornets signed first-round draft pick Chris Paul on Wednesday to a three-year contract.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Paul, the fourth overall pick, averaged 15.3 points and 6.6 assists for Wake Forest last year. The guard is expected to see significant playing time in the Hornets backcourt this season along with second-year shooting guard J.R. Smith.

With Raja Bell already gone to Phoenix the Utah Jazz find themselves with some extra spending money to use this summer.  A potential target, Tim Buckley of the Deseret Morning News writes, could be Suns center Steven Hunter.

Hunter apparently wants out of Phoenix, and the Jazz are thought to be weighing the wisdom of offering him a contract. Hunter apparently wants more than what the Suns are willing to spend, and the Jazz now have that extra cash. Hunter is just one of several big men the Jazz have on their radar. Former Jazz Mikki Moore of the Los Angeles Clippers may be another.

Utah also is looking for help at the point, with Dan Dickau of New Orleans a possibility, and on the perimeter to replace Bell, with Philadelphia's Willie Green under consideration.