New Orleans Hornets
The 2004-05 New Orleans Hornets suffered their worst season in franchise history at 18-64. Even when they were an NBA expansion franchise in the late 1980s, the Hornets won more games than they did in 2004-05. However, the disaster spawned a rebirth. That terrible season allowed the Hornets to pick Chris Paul in the 2005 NBA Draft.
I figured the Hornets would take a step back in 2012 after the departures of Chris Paul and David West. However, I didn’t think things would be this bad. Eric Gordon is an outstanding shooting guard and he should have been able to pick up most of the slack in 2012 in the absence of our dearly departed all-stars.
Unfortunately, Gordon suffered a knee injury in the first game of the 2012 NBA season. He then tried to play on his injured knee several days later and reaggravated it. Without Gordon, the Hornets are clearly one of the worst teams in the NBA. As a result, the 2012 Hornets should have lots of ping pong balls in the 2012 NBA Draft Lottery.
2012 Minnesota Timberwolves
Why should New Orleans Hornets fans care about the 2012 Minnesota Timberwolves? It’s not because Ricky Rubio is drawing comparisons to Pete Maravich. The Hornets were gifted with the Timberwolves first round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft in the Eric Gordon trade.
So although the Los Angeles Lakers are my least favorite NBA team, that honor has been temporarily bestowed on Minnesota. Although Rubio has been an awesome NBA rookie and Kevin Love is unstoppable, the Timberwolves are not likely to make the playoffs. Therefore, Minnesota’s first round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft should be a lottery pick.
2012 NBA Draft
According to the experts, the 2012 NBA Draft will be one of the best in recent history. So even if the Timberwolves do better than expected and the Hornets somehow improve later in the season, any two lottery picks in the 2012 NBA Draft should be awesome.
The Hornets top priority in the 2012 NBA Draft must be a point guard. Marquis Teague, Myck Kabongo or Kendall Marshall would be fine at point guard. After that, Hornets GM Dell Demps should not get cute. Regardless of the position, the Hornets should select the most talented player in the 2012 NBA Draft.
After a disastrous season in 2004-05, the Hornets landed one of the best point guards in history. The 2012 NBA Draft could be twice as good for the Hornets.
Patrick Michael was born in New Orleans and currently resides in the Big Easy. A loyal New Orleans NBA fan, Patrick was a diehard New Orleans Jazz fan and now cheers for the Hornets. Patrick was in the New Orleans Arena the night the Hornets were one win away from the Western Conference Finals.
Source
“2004-05 New Orleans Hornets Schedule and Results,” basketball-reference.com
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