‘To Do’: Hornets must find depth, solid coaching over 2010 offseason

Tuesday, May 4
May 4, 2010
Thursday, May 6
May 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 4
May 4, 2010
Thursday, May 6
May 6, 2010

It’s a pretty tumultuous time right now for the New Orleans Hornets.


The team missed the playoffs for the first time since returning to the city following Hurricane Katrina, and the team’s franchise player, point guard Chris Paul, missed close to half the season with various injuries.


And to top it all off, there is a bit of an ownership dispute internally for the team, so it’s unknown whether whoever is paying the bills will be willing to spend the big bucks to get some quality help both on the court and on the sidelines.

For those of you who are frequent SportsNet readers or are regulars here in Casey’s Corner, you remember back in January when I wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggesting a few ways the NFL could be changed for the better.


Either by the sheer power of the press, or 100 percent American luck, Mr. Goodell heeded some of my suggestions.


So here goes nothing.

My list of offseason suggestions to the Hornets’ front office.


Dear Mr. Shinn, Mr. Chouest or maybe even To Whom it May Concern:


Your team is a mess.

You have no money to spend and very few players that other teams want to trade for.


Mr. Chouest, I am a fellow Lafourche Parish resident. I know the magic you can work. I’ve seen your business grow and I know you love basketball – not to mention the people in this state love you and will buy tickets to the team’s games.


But you must field a winner, and that’s why I’m here to help.

I’ve won so many Playstation 3 NBA Championships that I ran out of fingers for all of the rings.

It’s not an easy fix – especially not in the NBA’s Western Conference, but here’s what we should do.

1. Find a quality head coach – In the NBA, especially, a good head coach is an absolute must. You guys have some pretty big names on your short-list so far, but if it were up to me, I’d go with current analyst Doug Collins. I like Avery Johnson and Jeff Van Gundy both, but they are so hard on their point guards that I wonder what effect that would have on Chris Paul (I’ll discuss him later) and Darren Collison. Go with Collins, and I think the team would fall in love with his laid back, but knowledgeable style.

2. Spend wisely – You guys have no cap room thanks to a bone-headed trade to get Emeka Okafor and his big, fat $72 million contract. What were you guys thinking picking up that bill, anyway? But thanks to the NBA, you have a Mid-Level Exception, which runs about $6 million or so a season. That may not sound like a whole lot, but there are so many good free agents that someone will sneak through the cracks.

3. Another solid draft – You guys had the best draft in the entire NBA last year. A big, fat A-plus. You picked from the middle of the first and second rounds and got arguably the two of the Top 5 best rookies in the entire NBA. With no money to spend, the draft is always your friend. With an even better pick this year, I’d think we can bank on another impact player this time around.

4. Get ownership bickering stopped – If you were applying for a job, would you accept the position if you didn’t know who your boss was going to be? That’s pretty much what’s going on with players right now, and they will shy away from the team as long as you billionaires keep bickering about the sale of the team. If it’s truly about what’s best for New Orleans (like you claim), then find a median and reach a deal that helps all parties involved. Winning means money for the city (and your pockets) and the team won’t win unless we find a chief and let everyone else be the Indians. If the Associated Press’s reports on Monday are true, I appreciate you guys making some progress and reaching a common median on the sale of the team. But then again, I will believe it when I see it, because a report of the sale being final have been done before and didn’t pan out. But if true, it would be a definite step in the right direction.

5. Trade Chris Paul, change the name of the franchise – I’ve been over this one before, but Paul needs to go. He’s been injured two of his five seasons in the league, and backup Darren Collison is basically the same player statistically as Paul. You guys have to move quickly on this one, because if he gets injured one more season, teams will label Paul as fragile and you won’t get anything for him in a trade. This will help with your finances and also allow you to get depth. I know it would be unpopular among the fan base, so here’s how we will play it. Three weeks after giving him the boot, come out with a new logo and announce the team is changing its name – all a part of the “rebuilding” process. The team name is indifferent to me, but you have to please the fickle, easily swayed fans, so I’d suggest the Hurricanes or the Gators.

So that’s my list. Like I told Mr. Goodell, if you’re only able to do one or two of these things that’s fine.

I won’t lie.

I’m a Rockets fan anyway.

Your favorite sports writer,

Casey