Many of us here seem to be very “unenthusiastic” about our current roster. I, however, am not. The Hornets can still be a legitimate playoff contender with the current roster, as long as everyone stays healthy for a decent amount of time. Am I saying we shouldn’t look to make trades? Definitely not. I think we can get good value for Darren Collison and Peja Stojakovic’s expiring contract. Trading Paul is definitely not an option in my book.

Let’s take a look at some things:

Hornet’s 2009-2010 Season Record: 37-45

Games behind a playoff spot: 13 (this is good for the 6th, 7th, and 8th seed since they were all tied)

Games missed due to injuries:

Chris Paul: 37

Peja Stojakovic: 20

*On a side note, Emeka Okafor played and started all 82 games. Overpaid?? I think not. I could make the argument here that Chris Paul was overpaid since he only gave us any kind of production for 45 games. I’m definitely not, but let’s all leave Okafor alone.

So, two of our essential starters and scorers missed 57 games due to injuries. If they were healthy, I think we could definitely count on an extra 10-12 wins. That right there puts us right below 50 win mark, which still isn’t good enough to make the playoffs last year.

If the Hornets were healthy, we can assume we were a 46-52 win team.

Now for this upcoming season, let’s take in the fact that Emeka Okafor will actually be healthy at training camp this year. That’s a plus. Let’s remember that Marcus Thornton will be a legitimate starter producing 14-20 ppg all year long playing alongside Chris Paul. That’s a HUGE plus. We have two new rookies with promise who will definitely be above Julian Wright on the depth chart. That’s potential. Oh, and we also have a real head coach who will be at training camp to put in his new system. No more Bower leaving Okafor out at the end of games. Even better news!

With all these positives, we should be able to win 47-54 games if all is well next season. I don’t see why everyone is pouting like we’re the Minnesota Timberwolves right now.

Around the deadline, we should be able to at least get some decent help by putting Collison, Songaila, and Stojakovic on the trading block. Who knows, we could even maybe sang Granger, but we will at least be able to bring some good help to New Orleans.

After all these moves are made, we should be in the mix fighting for a top 6 seed in the West. Yes, I understand many things need to go our way for this to happen, but it is definitely something we can do this season. We ARE a good team, and we will be a much better team as these next few months pass us by.

This will be quite the interesting season. Once again, we’re underdogs in the NBA going for another magical 56 win season!

See, happy in New Orleans! Let’s go Hornets!!