The management of the New Orleans Arena said the Hornets have reached an agreement with the state on a two-year lease extension to keep them in the state-owned arena through 2014.

A news release Wednesday from the arena said the extension essentially makes up for the time the team spent when it relocated to Oklahoma City following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The extended lease agreement includes specific benchmarks. For instance, it provides that the Hornets can opt out of the agreement if the team fails to draw an average attendance of 14,735 at the end of the 2008-09 season.