How Things Can Change So Quickly Over One Year for the Hornets

Things can change very quickly in the NBA.

At least that’s what Hornets fans have had to learn over the past year.

Fourth of July weekend in 2008 was one of the most optimistic periods in Hornets' franchise history.

The bad taste of a Game Seven loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals had just worn off, and the Hornets seemed as if they were well on their way to bringing New Orleans its first professional sports title.

People were putting the Hornets in the conversation, along with the Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, as potential contenders for the Western Conference crown going into 2009.

Chris Paul was one of the early favorites to win the MVP award.

A couple of weeks later, the Hornets signed forward James Posey, one of the prizes among the crop of free agents available last offseason. He had just finished winning his second NBA championship and was brought in to be the veteran leader on a young Hornets team that did not know how to win the big game quite yet.

This was the move that was going to put this team over the hump, right?

Giving him a contract worth four years and $25 million may have been a bit much, but winning a championship was the main focus for this team, not saving money—which is the mindset an organization needs if they want to achieve this goal.

The loss of major playoff contributors Jannero Pargo and Bonzi Wells seemed inevitable, but after the addition of Posey and the presence of a veteran point guard like Mike James still on the roster, it was only an afterthought at the time.

The Hornets were going to make New Orleans the home of a world champion. 

At least that was what everyone thought.

Almost a year later, the thinking in New Orleans is vastly different.

An extremely disappointing 49-33 regular season, which consisted of 58 combined games missed by starters Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic and the overworking of Chris Paul and David West to make up for their absence, ending with a quick first round exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.  

James was traded early in the season for Antonio Daniels due to his ineffectiveness. 

Then Daniels came in and was, well, ineffective. 

Posey played well, but, with the team lacking other players to assist West and Paul in the scoring effort, he was asked to do too much at times. Posey could not play the same role he did on his two previous championship teams.

They just need to sign another veteran, right? 

That should solve their problems.

Well, there is one little problem with that theory. The Hornets are on schedule to have over $77 million in payroll going into the 2009 season. That figure puts them $7 million over the expected luxury tax threshold.  

Adding another salary anywhere near what they gave to Posey last offseason will make owner George Shinn have to pony up a large chunk of cash (nearly $10 million) in luxury tax.

Shinn definitely doesn’t want to do that—no owner does—and especially not for a team that does not look like a surefire contender.

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