subject: Nothing "new" In New Orleans This Nba Off-season [print this page] The 2008-2009 season ended on a bittersweet note for all fans of the New Orleans Hornets. A promising 2007-2008 campaign left fans with high hopes for the Hornets of 2008-2009, who easily bowed out in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Players in New Orleans seemingly gave up on their coach, and morale was at a low point as the season ended.
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.
While a few minor trades have been made, no moves have been made that blatantly improve the quality of the Hornets' roster. They were wise to lose Peja Stojakovic, a player whose style never seemed to fit in with the New Orleans game, not to mention a long string of injuries that left him benched for significant portions of a few seasons. Management has also informed the team that nearly every player is subject to a possible trade, save for Chris Paul and maybe David West.
During the off-season, we've seen the Lakers make major moves (i.e. Ron Artest), the Mavericks improve their team (i.e. Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden), and the Spurs (i.e. Richard Jefferson) and others have followed suit. Nothing of the sort has taken place in New Orleans, and improvement is a must in such a competitive conference.
Because of this, it's very likely that New Orleans will be stuck paying yet another luxury tax. This could be justified if there was an improvement in the team's talent pool, but this isn't the case whatsoever. It's starting to seem more and more than the 2007-2008 season was the near-term pinnacle for the Hornets, and each season from here will fall short, and possibly even regress, if no moves are made.
Any fan of the Hornets must hope to see some kind of move made before the start of the season. Inaction is bound to lead to disappointment.
