Last season: 46-36, tied with Memphis but on a tiebreaker drew the Lakers in the first round, which got them knocked out.
Head Coach: Monty Williams, entering just his second season at the head of an NBA team.
Key Departures: Chris Paul, who is now throwing lobs to Blake Griffin, and David West, who left via free agency for Indiana. For those scoring at home, that’s nearly 35 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists per game. Good luck replacing that.
Key Additions: Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, plus Minnesota’s unprotected first round pick. Plus, they re-signed Carl Landry.
Best case scenario: The league finds an owner that wants to keep the Hornets in New Orleans.
As for on the court, in theory, with a starting lineup of Jarrett Jack, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor (plus a few solid bench players) they could be a solid team in the West that could try and compete for the seven or eight seed….
But why?
More likely the Hornets will: Let’s be honest — with the Chris Paul trade the Hornets enter rebuilding mode. The Hornets can fight the good fight on the court and try to make the playoffs, but they are better off trying to flip Kaman’s contract (and Okafor’s, if they can find a taker) for young players and picks. This is a deep draft, they are better off to jump into rebuilding with both feet.
Prediction: 20-46. That gets them a lot of ping-pong balls in the lottery, which is what they should be after. A couple high picks to go with Eric Gordon and you start to build something for that the next owner.