NEW ORLEANS (AP) -The New Orleans Hornets began this season with the promise of title contenders.
By the end, they hardly looked like they belonged in the playoffs at all, leaving players to wonder how much longer the team’s current core of Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic would remain intact.
“I don’t know. I just know we have to get better. We have to add some guns. We need some weaponry,” Hornets forward David West said following the Hornets’ first-round elimination by the Denver Nuggets.
“It doesn’t matter what coaches draw up or put together,” West continued. “We just needed a few more guys to be able to make some plays for us. Not just in this series, but down the stretch of the year. We didn’t have it.”
The Hornets were eliminated by the Nuggets in five games. New Orleans’ lone victory came by two points at home. All the other games were double-digit wins by Denver, including a playoff record-tying, 58-point margin of victory in Game 4.
Wednesday night, the Hornets had lost 10 of their last 13 games, including six losses in the final eight regular-season games.
Injuries and fatigue played a part in their late-season slide.
Chandler was playing on a sore left ankle that forced him to miss much of the latter half of the season, as well as the final playoff loss in Denver.
When healthy, Chandler is a vigorous 7-foot-1 defender and favorite target of Paul’s alley-oop lobs. But his performance had slipped enough this season that the Hornets attempted to trade him in February to Oklahoma City. After initially agreeing to the trade, the Thunder rescinded it, worried about Chandler’s health.
Chandler finished with averages of 8.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, down from a season earlier, when he averaged 11.8 points and 11.7 boards.
Stojakovic’s production dropped off as well. He was bothered by back soreness that may never fully go away. He had hoped back surgery that caused him to miss most of the 2006-07 season had solved it, and last season he came back strong. This season, however, he missed 21 games and his scoring average dropped to 13.3 points from 16.4 a year earlier.
The Hornets’ pair of All-Stars, Paul and West, improved this season. But a lack of depth forced Hornets coach Byron Scott to play them each more than 40 minutes per game for more than the last month of the season.
lso averaged 11 assists and had six triple-doubles. But even he was banged up by playoff time, struggling with a sore knee. During Denver’s Game 4 121-63 blowout, Paul had by far his worst playoff performance, scoring only four points with six assists.
“I just want my body to just recuperate,” Paul said Thursday. “It’s been nonstop since the Olympics” last summer.
A lack of depth only worsened the Hornets’ frustration. Last summer, the Hornets let go of reserve point guard Jannero Pargo and backup center Chris Andersen. Pargo’s ability to put up points in a flurry was missed.
Top reserve James Posey averaged nearly nine points and was one of the Hornets’ better defenders, but the rest of the reserves averaged between two and five points, including former first-round draft choices Julian Wright and Hilton Armstrong.
Andersen resurrected his career in Denver and was a menace against the Hornets during the playoffs.
With little help from reserves, the Hornets struggled when starters went down.
After winning a franchise-record 56 games in 2007-08, they finished this season at 49-33 and with the seventh seed.
eshold.
The Hornets could try to trade Chandler, who is due $12 million next season, but whether there are any takers, given his injury problems, remains in question.
Stojakovic’s fragile back and the $29.5 million he’s owed during the next two seasons make him tough to trade as well.
Scott already has said he could not imagine the Hornets considering trading Paul. That leaves West and Rasual Butler as the Hornets’ most tradable players. Butler, owed $3.9 million next season, struggled to get on the court two seasons ago, but this season emerged as a starter and averaged 11.2 points. West is owed $17.2 million during the next two seasons.
General manager Jeff Bower has said he would entertain opportunities to make major roster moves in the offseason, but has stressed that the team will put trying to win ahead of saving money.
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