Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 12:00pm

BONZI NOW A HORNET

The New Orleans Hornets acquired guard/forward Bonzi Wells and guard Mike James from the Houston Rockets for guard Bobby Jackson, guard Adam Haluska, small forward Marcus Vinicius and a conditional second-round pick in the 2008 draft.

What does it give the New Orleans Pelicans
In Wells and James, the suddenly-contending Hornets pick up two quality veteran scorers who can bring instant offense off the bench. The New Orleans starting five is set, but their bench was a little weak before this deal. Now they just need to make sure the strong personalities of their newcomers don't rub the team's young nucleus the wrong way en route to the playoffs. That said, Wells showed a couple years ago he can be a clutch postseason performer and James can be a quality scoring guard when he's focused. High-risk, high-reward here.

What does it give the Houston Rockets
Addition by subtraction here. Ultimately the Rockets get the end of in-team headaches. Wells and James are more valuable players than Jackson and Haluska, but both are sometimes seen as me-first players and neither really fit in with Houston's team chemsitry. The James and Jackson contracts cancel out in terms of money and years, while getting rid of Bonzi for Haluska saves the Rockets a bit of cash down the stretch. And the second-rounder helps a little down the road in bringing a probable role player. Adding Vinicius gives the Rockets a key trading piece they would use in a later minor deal with the Grizzlies.

Fantasy impact