The 24-year-old point guard finished with 16 points, 15 assists, eight steals and six rebounds. He hit 6-of-13 field goals and even added a blocked shot. The Hornets were led in scoring by Devin Brown’s 19 points, while Emeka Okafor had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, who are now 2-17 on the season, were led by Al Jefferson’s 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. After winning the first game of the season, the T’Wolves have now lost 17 of 18.

Entering the season with championship hopes, the Hornets are just 8-11. The injury to Paul didn’t help matter — although they were struggling even before he went down. Now that he’s back and now that there’s a new coach in place, it’ll be interesting to see if the Hornets can return to one of the top spots in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul is healthy once again (Image: Zuma Press)

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Love broke the fourth metacarpal bone after colliding with a teammate. As a rookie he averaged 11.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 blocks in 25.3 minutes per contest.

“Fortunately,” remarked Love, “it’s my non-shooting hand.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the Timberwolves alter their lineup with Love not available. Al Jefferson will be one of the starting bigmen. The other will likely either be Ryan Gomes or Ryan Hollins.

It’s been an interesting offseason for Minnesota. They used their first two picks in the 2009 NBA Draft to select a pair of point guards. The team then wasn’t able to get Ricky Rubio to sign. To replace Rubio, Minnesota signed Ramon Sessions. Now the T’Wolves will have to find a way to replace Love for the next six weeks.

Kevin Love - Minnesota Timberwolves (Image: Zuma Press)

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Kevin Love Injury Update – Broken Hand

5. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves have a lot of good, young pieces — namely Al Jefferon and Kevin Love — but it’ll take a few years before this squad is ready.

4. Milwaukee Bucks
After basically giving away Richard Jefferson and let Ramon Sessions, the Bucks just don’t have enough talent to compete right now.

3. Memphis Grizzlies
Allen Iverson in Memphis should sell tickets. That said, the Grizzlies have a chance to be really bad this year if Iverson doesn’t mesh with his teammates.

2. New Jersey Nets
The Nets are in an ownership transition and without Vince Carter to lean on, fans in New Jersey better get ready for lots of losses.

1. Sacramento Kings
Last season, the Kings had the worst record in the NBA. This year, it should be more of the same.

Kevin Martin and the Kings face a long season (Image: Zuma Press)

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For the Timberwolves, this is very good news and lessens the sting of losing out on Ricky Rubio. Sessions will help bridge the gap until Rubio is ready for the NBA. In fact, some NBA scouts believe that Sessions has a brighter NBA future than Rubio.

In Minnesota, expect Sessions to handle the point guard duties along with Jonny Flynn. Flynn was drafted by the team in the 2009 NBA Draft with the sixth overall selection.

As for the Bucks, they simple couldn’t afford re-signing Sessions at that price due to the looming luxury tax. Now they will use the trio of Luke Ridnour, Brandon Jennings and Roko Ukic at point guard. While Ridnour will likely begin the 2009-10 NBA season as a starter, Jennings appears to be the long-term answer at that position for Milwaukee.

Ramon Session now is with the Minnesota Timberwolves (Image: Zuma Press)

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Bucks Decline, Ramon Sessions to T’Wolves

The biggest name in this deal is Songaila. The 31-year-old is a very solid scoring bigman off the bench. Last year as a member of the Washington Wizards the native of Lithuania averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per contest. He also shot 53.2% from the floor and 88.9% from the line.

Brown will provide point guard depth for the Hornets. Splitting time last year with the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves, Brown averaged 5.3 points and 1.7 assists per game.

New Orleans were able to give up Daniels after drafting Darren Collison out of UCLA to be the team’s backup point guard. On Minnesota, Daniels will give the team a veteran point guard who can help make up for the loss of Ricky Rubio.

Darius Songaila - New Orleans Hornets (Image: Zuma Press)

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Darius Songaila Traded to the Hornets

The Timberwolves were motivated to go after Sessions after losing Ricky Rubio. After drafting Rubio with the fifth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Spaniard ultimately decided to stay in Spain. Needing a point guard, Minnesota turned to Sessions.

Last year with the Bucks, Sessions started 38 games and averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 assists per contest. He shot 44.5% from the field, 79.4% and posted averages of 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

Since Sessions was a restricted free agent, the Bucks have an option to match the offersheet. However if he ends up with the Timberwolves, Sessions will battle with rookie Jonny Flynn for the starting point guard gig. Considering that the 23-year-old Sessions has more experience, he would be the favorite for the job going into training camp.

Ramon Sessions signs offerseet with the Minnesota Timberwolves (Image: Zuma Press)

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Ramon Sessions Signs Minnesota Offersheet

The Timberwolves drafted Rubio as the fifth overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft. Many NBA experts thought that Rubio would play in the leauge this coming season. Instead, his Spanish club DKV Joventut has traded him to another Spanish club — FC Barcelona.

The 18-year-old playmaker extraordinaire has been on the basketball scene for a while and is regarded as one of the most exciting players in the world. With the Timberwolves, he likely would have started at point guard — even as a rookie.

Minnesota will likely turn to Jonny Flynn as their starting point guard. Flynn, who was drafted sixth in the 2009 NBA Draft, played well in summer league and is expected to make a relatively smooth transition to the NBA. That said, the loss of Rubio is a major blow to the Timberwolves and their rebuilding hopes.

Ricky Rubio stays in Spain (Image: Zuma Press)

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Minnesota Misses Out on Ricky Rubio

Laimbeer’s coaching experience came in the WNBA. In June, he stepped down as the general manager and head coach of the Detroit Shock. While with the Shock, Laimbeer led the team to three WNBA championships. When he left the Shock, he said he wanted to coach in the NBA — and now he’s gotten his wish.

During the middle of last season, Theus was fired as head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He was also a head coach on the college level. He’s regarded as a good motivator and should give a different type of coaching skill to the Timberwolves when compared to Rambis and Laimbeer.

The Timberwolves are likely looking at a long rebuilding process. However, the good news is that it appears as if they have assembled a good coaching trio.

Bill Laimbeer will be an assistant coach in Minnesota (Image: Zuma Press)

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Bill Laimbeer and Reggie Theus to Minnesota

4. Sacramento Kings
The Kings are in the middle of a rebuilding process. While they have a few good pieces, they won’t be a contender for the playoffs next season. If they struggle with injury, they could be the worst team in the NBA.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves looked to be taking steps in the right direction last season. But after an offseason overhaul and a coaching change, the T’Wolves seemingly started over once again. Simply put — they’ll be bad.

2. New York Knicks
If they could, the Knicks would like to skip next season. They are looking forward to the summer of 2010 when they can try to woo a big name free agent to the Big Apple.

1. New Jersey Nets
The Nets are reportedly for sale and they are trimming salary left and right. Winning, at the point, seems to be the lowest priority for New Jersey.

It will be a long season for Mike D'Antoni and the Knicks (Image: Zuma Press)

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It appears as if this might be the fourth and final trade for Richardson. The Heat wanted him — both for his play and the fact that he is Dwyane Wade’s good friend. Pat Riley said that Richardson brings the Heat a prolific three-point shooter, a locker room presence and a fierce competitor.

Richardson played the last four seasons with the New York Knicks. Last year, he played in 72 games and averaged 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. He shot 39.3% from the field and 36.5% on three-pointers.

With the Heat, Richardson could possibly start at small forward. If he doesn’t, he could give the team a solid swingman off the bench.

As for Blount, he gives the Timberwolves another center — a position that they need. There’s also a chance that Blount could be traded again before the beginning of the 2009-10 NBA season.

Quentin Richardson - Miami Heat (Image: Zuma Press)

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Quentin Richardson Traded to the Miami Heat