Greivis Vasquez was named the Western Conference Player of Week for games played Monday, December 24, through Sunday, December 30. This is the first time in Vasquez’s career that he has won a Player of the Week honor.

Vasquez led the Hornets to a 2-1 record, averaging 21.0 points, 10.0 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 53.1 percent from the field. 

Monta Ellis received the honor in the Eastern Conference.

The New Orleans Hornets have assigned rookie forward Darius Miller to the Iowa Energy, the Hornets’ NBA Development League affiliate.  

Miller (6-8, 235, Kentucky) has appeared in 23 games for the Hornets this season, averaging 2.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 13.6 minutes.

Eric Gordon made his 12-13 debut in the New Orleans Hornets' 98-95 win over the Bobcats.

Gordon scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 5-for-13 from the field while attempting 14 free throws.

"It felt pretty good; it felt good to be out there with the guys," Gordon said. "And we had a lot of fun. It's all about play-making down the stretch. When you're coming back from – I don't know what we were down by, 21 points? It comes down to play-making, not making turnovers, hitting the open man. You've got to use what you have. We have a lot of good bigs. Our guards just have to make good use of our team."

"I didn't expect that kind of impact right off the bat," said Monty Williams, "but I certainly thought he could help guys and make guys better. I didn't know he'd have 24 points and a few assists. Defensively, he's going to get better as he gets in shape."

Eric Gordon may make his 12-13 debut on Saturday for the New Orleans Hornets agains the Charlotte Bobcats.

Gordon has been dealing with chronic knee issues.

Austin Rivers projects to rate nearly seven wins worse than a replacement-level player by a player metric developed by Kevin Pelton, which would be the worst WARP score in the 34 seasons on record. The data pool starts with 1979-80, the first NBA season with the 3-point line.

Jason Collins, Adam Morrison, Michael Curry and Desmond Mason are the five other players with the worst WARP seasons.

Rivers is making just 34.6 percent of his attempts inside the 3-point line.

Ryan Anderson will return to Orlando as a member of the New Orleans Hornets.

Anderson was acquired by the Hornets in a sign-and-trade in the offseason during his restricted free agency.

“[The Magic] were waiting to see what they were going to do with Dwight and a few other pieces. And for me it was a situation that was just so different because, obviously, I didn’t have a relationship with Rob Hennigan,’’ said Anderson. “They didn’t even have a coaching staff at that point. For me, I was just kind of in the wind. I was playing it by ear and whatever happens, happens.

“I’m incredibly blessed to be [with the Hornets] and to have the deal that I got, and I’m very happy. But as for Orlando, I didn’t hear much from the Orlando side (during free agency) because it was just so many new people. I’m sure it would have been different as far as communication-wise if Otis and Stan were still around.’’

Eric Gordon participated in his first full-contact practice since October on Monday.

Gordon practiced for two hours without any problems or restrictions.

Gordon has missed all 27 games this season because of a patella tendon disorder and bone bruise in his right knee.

"I felt pretty good,'' Gordon said after Monday's practice."I was just ready to get out there with the guys. It was full contact and I participated in every thing. Now it’s just the conditioning part.''

Eric Gordon predicted on Wednesday that he will make his season debut with the New Orleans Hornets before the end of the month.

Dell Demps said the Hornets won't make a determination about when Gordon will play his first game until after he goes through a couple practices with teammates.

Gordon will rejoin the Hornets on Saturday after spending a month rehabilitating his right knee in Los Angeles.

"I had a lot of pain and all throughout my knee cap,’’ Gordon said before Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers in which he watched from the bench. "It shut down all my muscles around my leg from my calf to even my quads. So that’s what I was dealing with and if I would have kept on going I would have had to undergo possible surgery.’’

While Demps said it will be smart for the Hornets to "gradually bring him back," Gordon stated: "I'm more than 90 percent sure I'm going to play before this month is over. That's what I'm striving for and I'm starting now to turn things up.''

The NBA has filed trademarks for the New Orleans Pelicans, amongst four other potential nicknames on behalf of the New Orleans Hornets NBA Limited Partnership.

The Rougarou, Mosquitos, Swamp Dogs and Bullsharks are the other nicknames that have been filed for trademark.

A swamp dog is a Cajun nickname for an alligator, while Rougarou refers to a beast from Louisiana folklore.

New Orleans will likely adopt a red, blue and gold color scheme.

Eric Gordon will finish his last rehabilitation work in Los Angeles this week and will then head back to New Orleans to be re-evaluated by the Hornets.

Gordon, who hasn't played this season due to a knee injury, posted on Twitter Monday that he's excited to be around the Hornets again.

Monty Williams believes the Hornets will find out this weekend how close Gordon is to returning.

"I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, so we'll find out this weekend,'' Williams said.