"As the centerpiece of last month's trade that involved All-Star point guard Chris Paul going to the Los Angeles Clippers, shooting guard Eric Gordon was in the Hornets' long-term plans to emerge as their franchise player.

For those plans to continue, the Hornets are going to have to compete with other teams this summer to keep Gordon around after he declined to accept their four-year extension offer before Wednesday's 11 p.m. deadline passed.

Gordon, 6 feet 3, 215 pounds, will become a restricted free agent July 1, and General Manager Dell Demps said they are going to make a strong push to re-sign him.

"I'm still very optimistic that we will make Eric a big part of our team for years to come, and hopefully, we'll get something done this summer," Demps said.

The Hornets can match any offer Gordon gets, and there already are reports surfacing that the Indiana Pacers are planning to make a push to sign Gordon, who is from Indianapolis.

The Pacers were able to convince former Hornets forward David West to sign with them before this season as a free agent. It's not uncommon in the NBA for players to recruit top free agents to their respective teams. Gordon could draw that kind of enticement from West, who opted out of his contract with the Hornets after last season.

With the Hornets announcing Thursday that Gordon, 23, could miss up to six weeks because a right knee contusion hasn't healed properly, it's unknown what kind of attention he might draw.

Gordon has played in only two games this season, and if he needs the full six weeks to heal, he wouldn't return until March, a month before the regular season ends."