CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- No matter how much the Charlotte Hornets wanted to make it work with Derrick Coleman this season, his attitude wouldn't allow it.

Coleman's refusal to come off the bench or resolve a long-running feud with his coach forced the three-team trade that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

"DC wanted to be happy and he obviously wasn't happy here," coach Paul Silas said. "Maybe he'll be happy in Philly, we'll see."

The Hornets get forwards George Lynch, Robert Traylor and Jerome Moiso from Philadelphia and forward Chris Porter from Golden State.

The Warriors get forward Cedric Henderson and a conditional first-round draft pick in 2005 from Philadelphia as well as cash from Charlotte. The Sixers also get guard Vonteego Cummings and forward Corie Blount from Golden State.

But no matter who Charlotte got in return, it's who they gave away -- along with the $19.1 million he's still owed over two years -- that will make the biggest impact.

Despite having their best season in history last year, going 46-36 and advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Hornets' problems with Coleman always cast a shadow on the franchise and created distractions.

"I'll always in my heart believe that if we could have gotten 10 to 15 strong minutes from DC we could have won the Eastern Conference Finals," forward P.J. Brown said. "I don't know, maybe other guys had thoughts about the situation, too."

Coleman showed up to training camp 30 pounds overweight last year and off the medication that controlled his irregular heartbeat. He needed blood thinners to get his health in order and missed all of the preseason, thus never working his way into shape.

The rest of the season turned into a cycle of injuries and pouting that led to the worst of his 12 years in the NBA. In 34 games last season, he averaged 8.1 points -- less than half his 17.9 career average. He also shot 38 percent from the field and averaged 5.4 rebounds, both career lows.

But this year he seemed determined to turn things around. He came into training camp at about 270, roughly 10 pounds off his ideal playing weight, and his attitude had seemed good. He'd been working hard in practice and looked good in his preseason appearances.

Still, Silas was adamant that Coleman would come off the bench this year -- something the forward was not pleased at all about.

"I ain't never been nothing but a starter," Coleman said the first day of training camp. "So I don't see myself playing any other role."

There was no room for discussion on the issue. Silas was committed to using Brown at power forward and Elden Campbell at center, leaving no room in the starting rotation for Coleman.

"I didn't see DC starting here, I just didn't," Silas said. "He certainly wasn't going to beat out P.J. and Elden, but there was never any discussion with him about that."

That's because the relationship was so strained -- a product of Silas feeling let down by Coleman last year and Coleman being angry about the coach's candidness -- there was little or no conversation between the two on any subject.

Coleman had been on his best behavior all month, even arriving for Tuesday night's preseason game early, even though he wasn't suiting up because of a sore knee, to sign autographs as fans came though the gate.

Still, the team knew it was just a matter of time before something happened.

"I could kind of feel it coming," guard David Wesley said. "I'm not one that wanted to see him go, but if he didn't want to be here or guys aren't getting along or can't be happy with the situation, then maybe this is the best thing."