PRO BASKETBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NBA : Hornets Need Trade to Sign Mourning

The Charlotte Hornets have reached a contract agreement with No. 2 draft pick Alonzo Mourning, but they apparently will have to make a trade to get him signed, owner George Shinn said.

“I think it’s getting time to bite the bullet,” Shinn said. “I think it’s to the point where we’re going to have to make a trade. The most logical thing we’ve got left to do is move somebody to get things done.”

Shinn said the agreement is similar to the one Larry Johnson signed last year, “with an out after four.” Johnson, Charlotte’s top pick last year, has a six-year contract with an escape clause that allows him to become a restricted free agent after four years.

Shinn would not reveal financial details of Mourning’s contract. The Charlotte Observer reported that a source close to the negotiations said Mourning would receive “less than $2.5 million” in first-year salary.

Hornet Coach Allan Bristow has been trying to keep his roster intact, at least as far as the top players in his rotation are concerned. That might not be possible, Shinn said.

“That’s what our objective is, to keep our players,” Shinn said. “But what do you do? Do you keep a player and not sign your No. 1 draft pick?”

The Hornets, with $1.96 million available under the NBA’s $14-million salary cap, have to make a move to clear the rest of the money.

Their options: trade a player or players for another player, trade a player for a draft pick or rework one or more contracts of existing players.

They have tried and failed to make a player-for-player trade and are reluctant to rework other contracts, Shinn said, because it would tie them to large salaries for aging players by the time they expire.

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Milwaukee Buck center Moses Malone underwent surgery to remove a portion of a herniated disk in his back.

The operation, performed by Buck orthopedic consultant David Haskell, went as expected with no complications, the team said.