Rec and Sports

The New Orleans Hornets Must Make a Move

After a great 2007-2008 season and a very impressive playoff run, the 2008-2009 Hornets looked nothing like the team from the season before as they rolled over in the first round of the playoffs. Fans in New Orleans were disappointed with the result, as the season before paved the way for hope that the Hornets team was on the rise. Clashes between players and coach Byron Scott, among other things, killed the momentum for the New Orleans Hornets last season.

The first step in the downward spiral in New Orleans was the failed trade attempt of center Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma City. This trade was made on New Orleans’ part in an effort to avoid the luxury tax, but a failed physical blocked the trade and the Hornets ended up with Chandler back on their roster. No team wants a player who knows his team was willing to lose him.

The team has made a few trades, most notably the trade of Peja Stojakovic, a player with tremendous upside (one of the best shooters in the game when hot) who never realized his full potential as a Hornet. The team has made it publicly known that every player on the team is expendable at this point, with the exception of Chris Paul.

So many teams in the Western Conference have actively made moves during the off-season, bolstering their rosters and their chances in 09-10. The Hornets, on the other hand, have done virtually nothing so far.

The Hornets seem destined to regress once again, all the while paying a luxury tax. Without any major moves on their part, fans in New Orleans will probably look back at the 2007-2008 season as “the best it got”, for now at least. Chris Paul is a gift to the NBA, but requires some pieces that the Hornets lack.

Well, good luck to the Hornets and their fans as they try to fit the pieces together, and let’s hope they just might finally make an off-season move.