Limited options: The New Orleans Hornets are picking 45th in tonight’s NBA draft, and options for the team are limited. The team doesn’t plan to trade up into the first round, and it’s picking in the middle of the second round in a draft that’s seen on being thin in talent. The Hornets traded away their first-round selection to Portland in October for guard Jerryd Bayless, who was traded to Toronto for guard Jarrett Jack. Del Demps, the Hornets’ general manager, told The Times-Picayune the team is “trying to reload” after making the NBA playoffs last season. Demps says the Hornets aren’t targeting specific positions in the draft. However, the team is considered to need a shooting guard and center, and the power forward spot is uncertain because David West may opt out of his contract. The draft starts at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. No Louisiana players are expected to be selected.
Lady Tiger hits the tour: LSU All-American golfer Megan McChrystal takes the next step after her record-breaking collegiate career when she plays her first professional round of golf on the LPGA Futures Tour. McChrystal will tee off Friday afternoon in the 54-hole Island Resort Championship, presented by Delta County Chamber of Commerce in Harris, Mich., at the Sweetgrass Golf Club. McChrystal will be one of three former LSU players in the field, joining Michelle Easton-Jackson from South Africa and Shreveport’s Meredith Duncan, a former U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion. McChrystal recently finished her senior season as a first team All-American by the NGCA and Golfweek magazine, helping the Lady Tigers to their best-ever finish in the NCAA Championships, coming in third.
Keep talking: NFL owners and players are meeting for the second straight day in the Boston area as they attempt to close in on a new collective bargaining agreement. A person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press that the meetings, which began Wednesday, have stretched into today. A source told ESPN the talks were “very fruitful” and the expectation is that discussions will last until an agreement is reached. “We are headed in the right direction,” the source told ESPN. “There is a desire on both sides to reach an agreement sooner rather than later.” Among those in attendance are Commissioner Roger Goodell and members of his labor committee, and players association chief DeMaurice Smith and several players. Sources are speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential. The two sides have exchanged proposals on a variety of issues after meetings over the last three weeks. The main topic has been how to divide revenues—$9.3 billion last year—and league owners were briefed this week on a plan that would give the players just under 50% of total income. An off-the-top expense credit of about $1 billion that went to the owners would be eliminated.
