"On the surface, the Hornets, still owned by the NBA, seem to be in a bit of a mess.

In December, just days after announcing that the team had surpassed its season-ticket goal of selling 10,000, the Hornets were forced to trade away their singular on-court foundation, four-time All-Star Chris Paul, because of the player's unwillingness to commit to a long-term contract extension and his desire to be part of a winning team.

A soap opera surrounded the Paul trade: NBA Commissioner and defacto Hornets owner David Stern, in his role as the head of the team and not the league, vetoed a three-team transaction involving the Rockets and Lakers that would have brought Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Lamar Odom to New Orleans, three solid veterans that could have provided a win-now, short-term base, with Paul going to the Lakers.

Stern instead pushed for a deal to make the Hornets' future more promising, gathering a younger core by way of a deal with the Clippers that brought Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and his expiring $14 million contract and a potential 2012 lottery pick that meant the Hornets likely this season would experience the dreaded "R" word: rebuilding.

As it played out, there was the appearance that Hornets General Manager Dell Demps' power to negotiate trades had been usurped by the league office.

Gordon is now out an additional three to six weeks with a right knee he said was sore heading into the regular-season opener when he knocked knees with Phoenix's Grant Hill, exacerbating the trauma. And, Kaman is now out of the lineup and away from the team and on the trading block. The only tangible asset New Orleans has to show for a four-time All-Star considered the best in the league at his position is an inexperienced small forward prone to errors of inconsistency around flashes of promise."