2011-2012 Finish: 42-24

Season Highlight
The Hornets had one of their best seasons since the NLL’s inaugural season back in 2002-2003. Finishing 2nd in the West, this team was always a forced to be reckoned with. Even with an injury bug floating around (Ray Allen missing 30 games,Chris Kaman missing 29,and Amare Stoudemire missing 20) the Hornets were a top team in the West.


Season Lowlight
The Hornets enter the Western Conference Finals, confident that they can take down to Sacramento Kings,even without home court. In Game 1, J.R. Smith hit a game-winning three to seal a 1-0 series lead.Then in Game 2, the Hornets fell just short again, a 105-107 loss.In Game 3, Ray Allen hit a mid-range jumper with 3 seconds left to take the game 109-108. The Hornets were happy to win, but they could’ve been holding a 3-0 lead. Up 2-1 the Kings showed no mercy, winning Game 4 by 18,and just coming out in Game 5 113-110. The series could’ve ended in a completely different way, but the Hornets found themselves exiting the playoffs.


Best Trade
The New Orleans Hornets send Tayshaun Prince and Jason Thompson to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send Chris Kaman and Courtney Lee to the New Orleans Hornets.This trade wasn’t really thought of to make a huge impact on either team, but Kaman and Lee were major parts of the Hornet’s success. When healthy, the K-Man held it down inside and Courtney Lee was the only Hornet to play all 66 games.


Worst Trade
The New Orleans Hornets send Carlos Delfino,Darren Collison,Marreese Speights, and 1st rounder (NO) to the Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics send Jason Kidd, Ivan Johnson,and 2nd rounder (WAS) to the New Orleans Hornets. New Orleans made this move to get championship team pieces, but they lost a lot younger talent in Darren Collison and Marreese Speights, while also losing valuable role player Carlos Delfino. In the end Boston traded away that 1st rounder, but it still wasn’t in New Orleans’ hands come draft day. The Hornets likely could’ve been ok without this trade, as the Collison, Kidd, Speights, and Johnson put up nearly parallel stats after the trade was made.


Other Notable Trades
Seeing as the Hornets only made 3 trades during the regular season, there are no other notable trades.

Best FA Signing
Gerald Green- Gerald Green saved the New Orleans Hornets. Signed in March, no one expected him to jump into a major role like he did. DaveD took a risk and put in 15 GM points just to get Green who was floating around on a 10-day contract. Showing he’d improved his game while in the D-League, Green averaged 17.9 points per game,5.6 rebounds, and shot 48 % from the field, career highs.


Worst FA Signing
There weren’t really any horrible signings for the Hornets. Most “bad” signings were just for guys to fill the bench.

Star
Amare Stoudemire-PF- When healthy the man known as “STAT” was the ultimate player for the Hornets. Rebounding numbers were problably a little dissapointing, but 22.6 PPG shooting over 55 % from the field made up for it.


Surprise
Gerald Green-SG- See Best FA Signing above.


Goat
Devin Ebanks-SF- Even in decent minutes he didn’t do much, but he’s still got time to grow.


Draft Report Card
With the 15th pick the Hornets took Kentucky Terrence Jones. After Amare Stoudemire demanded a trade (we’ll get to that later), picking Jones made the most sense for New Orleans. Reports are that he’ll play off the bench behind Tristan Thompson, but it may not be long before we see the rookie in the starting lineup. Grade: B

Looking to the Future
In shock, many of The Hornets players announced they would not be returning after their playoff exit. Ray Allen announced he wanted to test new waters. Gerald Green demanded a raise, but DaveD wasn’t handing it over. Chris Kaman had been bitter most of the year wanting out of the organization. Courtney Lee and Jason Kidd followed suit, and when none of his main men were left Amare Stoudemire demanded out. The championship caliber team was diminished in a matter of weeks.

DaveD made the decision to ship STAT to the LA Clippers, where young GM jeremyclips was very excited to begin a ring chase, also acquiring Paul Pierce from Milwaukee. In return New Orleans recieved rookie forward Tristan Thompson, point guard Eric Bledsoe,Tyrus Thomas, and Travis Outlaw. This is a huge downgrade for New Orleans. Thompson could become something, but it’ll take awhile. All the other players seem to be stuck as role players. Devin Ebanks,George Hill, and Ivan Johnson are the only Hornets that seem open to coming back for the new season.This leaves the future to be very gloomy in Hornetville.
Upcoming Free Agents
Ray Allen- After 3 years, Ray Allen has already announced he’ll be leaving.

Chris Kaman- Even after DaveD showed that he cared for Kaman, he still wanted out.

Gerald Green- Will he be able to repeat his excellent performance this season? Maybe, but he for sure won’t be doing it in the blue and yellow.

George Hill- A good young PG that actually wants to stick around. The Hornets should look to re-sign Hill, providing experience in the system for all the new guys.