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Since Davis has not hired an agent yet, Williams said he's had a chance to talk with him a lot. Williams said while attending last week's Chicago pre-draft combine, he met with Davis. ``I stay in communication with him,'' Williams said. ``If the other guys didn’t have an agent, I would talk to them, too. I had a chance to talk to a bunch of guys in Chicago, (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist, Austin (Rivers), obviously. A lot of guys I saw in the hallways and I shook their hands and kind of told them to beat it.'' New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams, Anthony Davis 

Brian Schmitz: Anthony Davis: Going No. 1 "not set in stone." After talking with Hornets coach Monty Williams, I believe cement is dry on his selection. Twitter

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams, Anthony Davis 

Davis' Kentucky Wildcats won the national championship at the Final Four in New Orleans in April. He has some family members in the city who are excited for his arrival. Also ecstatic are Hornets fans, who suddenly have hope for a brighter future after New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson agreed to buy the franchise. Davis is still learning about the Hornets and the "Big Easy,” but he knows about Williams. "I know they work hard every night under Coach," Davis said. "It’s a great place to play." Yahoo! Sports

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

Davis plans to hire an agent in a couple weeks. He expects to also visit New Orleans soon. Williams didn’t offer an official commitment to draft Davis, but no one expects the Hornets to pass on the talented forward. Yahoo! Sports

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

But I do know this: At least one NBA head coach, Monty Williams, says the Blazers are making a mistake if they don't consider Malone. Full disclosure: Williams and Malone are both represented by Kauffman. Oregonian

New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Coaching, Monty Williams, Mike Malone 

The thought crosses former Magic forward Monty Williams' mind from time to time. He can't escape it. And as the New Orleans Hornets coach was coming down from the high of his team winning the NBA Draft lottery last week, it revisited him. "I feel blessed, I really do," Williams said by phone late Friday night. "It's such a high because I'm not supposed to be here. I was told I was supposed to die 20 years ago." Orlando Sentinel

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

Williams isn't being overly dramatic. He was diagnosed with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the disease blamed for the deaths of Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis. Back in 1990, Williams was delivered a veritable death sentence, doctors telling him that physical activity such as basketball could produce a fatal heart attack. He was taken off the court for two years at Notre Dame until research cleared him. Testing showed that signs of any disease had vanished, allowing him to play nine seasons in the NBA. "It's a miracle from God — no other way to explain it," he said. But Williams has felt he is living on borrowed time ever since. He tries to impart a message to his kids and close friends to make each day count. "I do talk about it a lot to my kids," he said. "I think about it. You look at your wife and kids, and you realize how blessed you are. Don't ever take things for granted. It humbles me." Orlando Sentinel

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

In December, NBA Commissioner David Stern nixed a trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers in a three-team deal, saying it wasn’t in the best interest of the Hornets. Ultimately, Stern approved the trade that sent Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, Al Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ unprotected first-round pick, which became the 10th pick in this month’s draft on Wednesday night. “Don’t get me wrong, this is really cool for us, and I feel blessed that we have the No. 1 pick,” Williams said. “But as I said before, my job never changed. I want to keep that focus, no matter what the situation is — ownership, players want to leave, No. 1 pick, the bottom line my job hasn’t changed. My focus is always to try to get better, talk to other coaches and watch other guys practices. I feel I don’t have anything to gloat about. We haven’t done anything yet.” New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Coaching, Monty Williams 

Williams said he learned from San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich to keep working to improve. “This is the start of a new beginning,” Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said. “We’re hoping for the best. I think we have a good core right now, and we’re looking forward to building for the future and be good for a long time.” New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Coaching, Monty Williams, Gregg Popovich 

On the ripple effect of getting the No. 1 pick (specifically RFA Eric Gordon), New Orleans coach Monty Williams said, "Since Eric came to New Orleans, even before he hurt his knee, he’s always expressed to me that he was comfortable being in New Orleans. He intimated to me that this was the kind of team, the kind of coaching, that he wanted. That’s all I can go off of...(But) when you get a No. 1 pick, that’s an enticement not only to Eric but other free agents around the league." Sulia

New Orleans Pelicans, Free Agency, Monty Williams, Eric Gordon 

In discussing No. 1 pick (otherwise known as Anthony Davis), New Orleans coach Monty Williams won't discuss Davis by name but says in conference call, "I've talked about (adding) length for two years now. Not only that, but adding a game-changer...The problem I see is trying to put too much pressure on those guys (No. 1 and No. 10 picks) to say they need to save an organization, or save a team." Sulia

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams, Anthony Davis 

Quincy Pondexter: Congrats Coach Mont and the @Hornets on getting the #1 pick Twitter

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams, Quincy Pondexter 

(Monty) Williams, who refused to allow his team to look past the regular season and, for lack of a more glamorous term, tank in the last few weeks to improve their lottery chances, believes that the system is the best method to determine the draft order. “If it was just based on the order of records, I think you’d see more of the stuff we saw down the stretch, of teams just tanking games and guys sitting out and not playing hard and things of that nature,” said Williams New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

Monty Williams: “The one thing people forget is that players know when you’re doing that. We weren’t going to do that. That’s the last message I wanted to send to our guys, that we were trying to tank games. I feel with doing things the right way, at least we can sleep at night. It may not always work out for you, but at least you can sleep at night.” New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

But NBA coaching sources said Thursday the Clippers, should they decide to move in another direction, would probably target two coaches who aren't free agents to see if there's any shot at prying one of them loose: Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks and New Orleans' Monty Williams. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Monty Williams, Scott Brooks 

Sources say Brooks' negotiations with the Thunder on a contract extension are unlikely to resume until after the playoffs, with Oklahoma City about to enter a Western Conference finals showdown with the San Antonio Spurs. Yet the widely held assumption in coaching circles is that Brooks never reaches free agency and will reach terms quickly with the Thunder once the season is over, similar to the Dallas Mavericks' speedy negotiations with Rick Carlisle earlier this month after Mavericks owner Mark Cuban put off all contract talks until Dallas was eliminated from the postseason. The Thunder are 8-1 in the playoffs, having eliminated the two teams -- Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers -- that have won the past three NBA championships. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Monty Williams, Scott Brooks 

With two lottery selections in the June 28 NBA Draft, New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps and Coach Monty Williams will try to be the good luck charms the team needs to secure the highest possible pick by winning next Wednesday's NBA Lottery in New York. The Hornets possess their own lottery pick, acquired thanks to a 21-45 regular season record, as well as the one belonging to the Minnesota Timberwolves, acquired in the trade that sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Trade, Monty Williams, Dell Demps 

Although next month’s NBA draft is considered to be deep with talent, New Orleans Hornets Coach Monty Williams disagrees. With two lottery picks, the Hornets are slotted fourth and 10th in the May 30 draft lottery and have a 13.7 percent chance of landing the top pick. New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

``I don’t see this deep draft everybody is talking about,’’ Williams said. ``I think there are a few players at the top that are really good that can be good players. But I don’t see any Carmelo’s or LeBron’s.’’ New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams 

``I don’t think you’re going to find a (Manu) Ginobili at 52,’’ Williams said. ``The last few weeks I’ve had a chance to look at all these young guys on tape and I’m not jaded by the hoopla as everybody else is. I think there are good players, but I don’t see this deep draft.’’ New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Orleans Hornets, Draft, Monty Williams