The Jamal Mashburn situation is coming to an end, as Mashburn's troublesome right knee pushes him further out of the Hornets' plans and possibly into retirement.

Barring an exam that shows major improvement, Mashburn likely will be placed on the injured list next week, the precursor to sitting out the season and maybe the first step to his departure from the NBA.

Mashburn says he has no cartilage in his knee, and there's no remedy for bone-on-bone, other than tolerating the pain.

The problem for the Hornets is that Mashburn's salary, almost $20 million over the next two seasons, not including an option for a third year, counts against the salary cap. If Mashburn cannot play, the Hornets have an insurance policy that will absorb most of the financial blow, but the team won't have that cap space to spend on other players unless majority owner George Shinn decides to exceed the cap and pay the NBA's stiff luxury tax in the process.