Guest Post: Should The Hornets Go Full-Tilt?

Michael Pina is a contributing writer for the Hoop Doctors, the Huffington Post, and Hoops Addict. He’s here today to ask the question of if the Hornets should bite the bullet and go all-in on a change-up.

It’s not that bad. Really it isn’t. Yes there’s the losing record, the fact that through the first two months there was a Henry Hudson-esque mutiny towards Byron Scott and a threatening ankle injury for the franchise point guard. Add in a recent bludgeoning by the Knicks that saw Chris Duhon do his best proctologist impersonation (six threes from a 30% shooter) and still things could be worse. Much, much worse.

The season’s still in its prepubescent stage. Chris Paul is back, says he’s healthy and is conducting his troops like the future Springfield bust that he is. At their house, aka The Hive, New Orleans is 8-3; giving up nine fewer points per contest than when they’re on the road.

As long as the aforementioned Paul is in a Nola uniform, they’ll be competitive. It’s clear Scott’s inconsistencies were wearing thin on the team and the shakeup should prove beneficial, but none of this necessarily means they’re a championship contender. What we do know is they won’t quit as some accused them of doing in last year’s postseason.

So right now who are the Hornets? They’re a financially strapped bunch that’s a lot older than you think. 32-year-old Peja Stojakovic can still snipe with the best of them but defensively he looks, to put it nicely, God awful. Both him and David West are regressing (West’s currently putting up 15.7 points per contest which is his lowest since 2004-05).

Their recent draft picks have been on a Rodney White level of discouraging and haven’t performed anywhere near up to par. (Julian Wright and Hilton Armstrong have yet to tie their shoes correctly.)

Regardless they still have some nice pieces. Most notably Chris Paul who controls NBA games better than you do with an Xbox controller.

James Posey, who is either the leagues most overrated or underrated sixth man depending on your expectations, continues his relentless defensive intensity, on floor leadership and three-point accuracy that got him his mildly unrealistic four-year $25 million dollar deal.

22-year-old Chris-Weinke-ancient rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton have been playing pretty solid, specifically Thornton. Like a sorority girl eyeing a lonely bottle of mango flavored vodka, the Hornets were familiar with the Baton Rouge native and aggressively pursued.

For a second lets look at the team realistically and not through Bud Fox’s eyes. This means treating 2007-08 like an aberration instead of a progressive step towards the league’s elite that some stubbornly still believe.

In order to seriously compete, Nola’s got to wheel and deal. A blockbuster, division shake-up type move.

Here’s an idea. Take Stojakovic and West, two players who are closer to the mountain’s summit than its base, throw in Julian Wright and send them to Toronto for the stupendous Chris Bosh, Rasho Nesterovic and Reggie Evans. With Toronto playing unsatisfactorily so far this season, the probability of re-signing Bosh is decreasing by the day. It’d make sense from the Raptors standpoint to, at the least, grab two former all-stars for him. From Nola’s perspective, they’d be adding one of the best players in the league for the rest of the year. Should they choose to do so, the Hornets could then build around a Paul/Bosh nucleus that would vie for a championship these next few years.

If no trade goes down, there’s still one shining light to look at. While Paul was out with his ankle injury the team stayed afloat, going 4-4. They’re still in contention to make the postseason but expectations should be tempered. This isn’t three years ago and Tyson Chandler isn’t walking through that door.

Oster-Tags: Chris Paul, Darren Collison, David West, marcus thornton, New Orleans Hornets, Peja Stojakovic