Coach: Byron Scott
2008-09 Record: 49-33
Pythagorean Record for 08-09: 46-36
Offensive Rating: 108.7 (12^th in the league)
Defensive Rating: 107.0 (9^th)
Possessions per 48: 87.8 (28^th)
Four Factors:

Roster (Red indicates new acquisition, Blue indicates rookie) Click to enlarge

I love the Emeka Okafor trade, thought it was a brilliant move for the Hornets. He and Chandler are the same age, but Okafor was better in nearly every facet of the game last season, and he didn’t have the advantage of playing with the league’s best point guard. Okafor is, in my opinion, the better defender of the two, and is certainly a better offensive player. He’s also shaken off the injury issues that plagued him early in his career, and hasn’t missed a game in two years. Big men are particularly dependent offensively on the guys around them, and there’s a massive difference between languishing in Charlotte and getting fed easy layups by Chris Paul.

Peja Stojakovic has to be better this year, doesn’t he? He may not stay healthy all year like he did two years ago, and he is getting older, but it’s tough to imagine him shooting under 40 percent from the field again. He’s not a good defender, so if he’s not hitting his shots, he’s not worth playing. If he can shake his back problems though, Peja should return to form. Guys with his height and shooting ability can typically remain productive late into their careers.

Keep an eye on rookie Marcus Thornton. The second round pick was actually one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball last year, ranking 4th in the country in offensive efficiency among players with a 28%+ usage rate (and #1 among major conference players). He’s a guy who did a lot of his damage with cuts off the ball and freeing himself with screens, and that should help him transition to the NBA game as a role player. Importantly for the Hornets though, he’s really the only true shooting guard on the roster. Guys like James Posey or Stojakovic will fill that spot a lot of the time, but it would be a huge boon to the Hornets if Thornton can give them some solid play at SG.

Also, don’t overlook Ike Diogu. The Hornets will be his 5th team in five years, and he hasn’t gotten many minutes anywhere he’s gone. Don’t let that fool you though, Diogu is an offensive weapon. He’s extremely strong, has excellent touch around the rim, and draws fouls at a simply absurd rate. He’s not a good defender, but he’s a good enough scorer and rebounder to make up for that. New Orleans desperately needed post depth this offseason, and by signing Diogu for the minimum, they may have gotten it at a great price.

Chris Paul is otherworldly. I mean, go back and look at the roster from last year, and remove Chris Paul and David West from it. That group of supporting players is awful, awful, awful. Truly terrible. The fact that Paul led this team to 49 wins is amazing, and a tribute to what a great player he is. He’s the best point guard in the league, and there’s nobody even remotely close to his level (sit down, Utah fans). Barring injury, he’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats at the position. No matter what happens with this team, it’s going to be hard to pick them to miss the playoffs while Paul is here, he’s a one-man wrecking crew.

David West, over the last few years, has gone from being massively underrated to being midly overrated, and now I think it’s balanced out, and he’s probably just “rated.” I think the best word to describe him is “solid,” he’s just a really solid, dependable player. He doesn’t have the physical tools to be a superstar, but he’s going to give you that borderline all-star level performance every year. I think his defense gets overlooked too often, he’s always struck me as an excellent defender when I’ve watched him. Again, he doesn’t have the athleticism to be a dominant defender, but he’ll give the guy he’s guarding fits (like in the ‘08 playoffs, when he held Tim Duncan to 15.3 ppg on 42% shooting).

X-Factor: Julian Wright – He doesn’t play the most crucial position for them (the Hornets have plenty of wing players), but he does have the most untapped potential of anyone on the roster. Wright has been an enigma since he was in college, when he would look like a top 5 pick on certain days, and fail to show up on others. He’s an excellent athlete, and has all kinds of tools. A 6′9″ guy with his quickness, ball-handling ability, and court vision can be an almost impossible cover, but he’s yet to put it all together yet. Of course, he hasn’t gotten much of a chance, only playing 1412 minutes over the last two seasons. I think if the Hornets start giving him more burn, he can at very least give them an energetic forward who can finish and play plus defense, and  at best he explodes to be a major contributor who adds much-needed athleticism on the wing.

Overview

I don’t know if there’s any team that relies as heavily on one player as the Hornets do on Paul. Last year the team made 2911 shots from the field. Paul made 631 field goals and assisted on another 861. That means that, all told, CP3 had a direct hand in 51.3% of the Hornets’ made shots last year. Paul alone is reason to perennially pick this team for a playoff spot. He is responsible for so much of their offense, and he does it so well, that as long as he’s there the team can be a borderline contender. With the addition of Okafor and some actual, decent post reserves, the team should be improved from last year. There are still a lot of questions marks on the roster, but in the end, as Paul goes so goes the team. At 24 and having improved every year of his career, there’s no reason to believe that Paul can’t elevate this team again.

6th in the West -Potential Spoilers

BallerBlogger contributing writer ‘xphoenix87′ is a college student who dreams of one day writing about sports for a living. Since that’s not gonna happen, he’ll do this instead.