Every team is going through a certain level of transition now that the NBA has brought in a 30th team in Charlotte and the league has decided to realign from four divisions into six divisions each with five teams. Inevitably, there would be one team that would experience more transition than usual, and this season, it would have to be the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets actually played in Charlotte from 1989-2002 before leaving the city and moving to New Orleans because of low attendance totals and the seeming lack of interest in the sport itself. The Hornets, a playoff team in the East last season, will be the only team moving from the East to the Western Conference in a move that will definitely hurt their chances of reaching a championship in the coming years. The West has definitely established itself as the dominant conference and New Orleans had trouble at times last season in the East so they’ll need to pick up the pace if they want to be a competitive team in the much tougher Western Conference. Tim Floyd, the coach of the Hornets after an unsuccessful stint with the Bulls, will have his team ready to bounce back after a 41-41 season last year.

The team last year was supposed to be led by forward Jamal Mashburn but he suffered a few injuries before the season and never became the force the team expected in 2004. Instead, point guard Baron Davis picked up his game and became one of the top players in the entire league. Davis averaged 23 points per game along with more than 4 rebounds and 7.5 assists per night and in the first few months of the season, Davis was arguably the best player in the league and was almost unstoppable. Davis slowed down near the end of the season and had some issues with injuries but he’s said he’ll fully recover over the off-season and will be ready to star again for the Hornets this season. The team also got a surprise contribution from big man Jamaal Magloire who stepped up his play and made the all-star team for the first time in his career. The team signed Rodney Rogers from the Nets but lost Robert “Tractor” Traylor to the Cavs. The team had a relatively quiet off-season before arriving at the draft knowing they needed to improve their team’s jump shooting and ball handling on the wings. They selected prep star J.R. Smith out of St. Benedict’s in New Jersey in the first round and Florida State shooting guard Tim Pickett in the second round to bolster their depth in the backcourt.

The Hornets will move from the Eastern Conference into the Western Conference and into arguably the toughest of the six divisions set up by the realignment. They’ll be matched up with the San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, and the Memphis Grizzlies, four teams that made the playoffs in the difficult West last year. The Spurs and Grizzlies will return much of their teams from last year while the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady to team up with Yao Ming and the Mavericks responded to the loss of point guard Steve Nash by trading for Jason Terry and Erick Dampier to solidify a team that should make a run at the title this season. The Hornets realize they won’t be favored to win the division over such strong competition but they know that a bad run during the season could see them sitting out the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The New Orleans Hornets feature one of the top backcourts in the league with Baron Davis and David Wesley teaming up and Darrell Armstrong and J.R. Smith coming off the bench. Jamal Mashburn will hope to be completely healthy coming into this season and he’ll start at the small forward position if he’s able to go. P.J. Brown and Jamaal Magloire both had outstanding years and they’ll look to continue their stellar play at the power forward and center positions, respectively. The team will have to hope that Mashburn can get himself healthy and back to superstar status or else Baron Davis will need to be unbelievable the entire year much like it was in 2004.

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