Byron Mullens is expected to miss several weeks with a sprained left ankle.

Mullens took a hard fall late in Saturday’s road loss to the Nuggets. He couldn’t put any weight on the joint, and there was relief around the franchise that he hadn’t fractured his ankle.

Hakim Warrick figures to see an increase of minutes with Mullens out.

The Charlotte Bobcats are interested in trading Gerald Henderson, according to a source.

The Bobcats have Henderson coming off the bench with rookie Jeff Taylor starting.

Henderson will be a restricted free agent in the offseason.

The Charlotte Bobcats have signed forward Jeff Adrien while waiving guard Cory Higgins, the team announced on Sunday.

Adrien joins the Bobcats from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, where he averaged 17.6 points on .563 shooting, 11.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in five games played so far this season.

Higgins was in his second season with the Bobcats, with career averages of 3.7 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 10.3 minutes in 44 games played.

The Charlotte Bobcats' Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard have been named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in October/November.

Kidd-Gilchrist was the only rookie who ranked in the top 10 in scoring (10.9 ppg, fifth), rebounding (6.5 rpg, sixth), assists (1.5 apg. eighth), steals (1.2 spg, fourth) and blocks (1.3 bpg, second).

Lillard led all rookies in scoring (18.4 ppg), assists (5.9 apg) and steals (1.38 spg). He is the first NBA player to score at least 20 points in each of his first three NBA games since Grant Hill in 1994. 

The New Orleans Hornets are expected to become the Pelicans as early as the 2013-14 season, numerous sources told Yahoo! Sports.

A change of the nickname has been expected since Tom Benson purchased the team.

Benson owns the rights to the nickname Pelicans. Louisiana is known as the Pelican State.

The Hornets also considered the nicknames Krewe (groups of costumed paraders in the annual Mardi Gras carnival in New Orleans) and Brass.

With the Hornets abandoning their nickname, the Charlotte Bobcats can possibly change their name.

A Hornets' spokesman denied that a change to the Pelicans was final.

"We’re not confirming that is the name,’’ Greg Bensel said. "This is a process that’s ongoing and still in discussions. And it will be eventually decided by the NBA.’’