Short of trading away Chris Paul or David West, the Hornets have completely overhauled their roster over the past 20 months. Following a summer in which Paul trade rumors were prevalent in the second half of the offseason, the Hornets have been one of the NBA's most pleasant surprises.

Any team with an 80% healthy Chris Paul is going to be capable of beating any team on any given night. But they only rank 20th in offense, which is shocking for a team that has Paul at point guard. While they are unsurprisingly excellent in transition and the pick and roll, the general weakness offensively on the wing is problematic.

Trevor Ariza has an eFG% of just 44.9%, which wasn't what Dell Demps was expecting when he traded away Darren Collison in a four-team trade. Instead of slashing and getting his offense from Paul playmaking, Ariza is freelancing far too much in ISOs and he's not that type of talent.

Marcus Thornton's defense keeps him off the floor, but he at least is capable of scoring in bunches. The trade for Marco Belinelli was a good one, but he is somewhere in-between those two in what he brings, which is to say he is a fairly average option.

New Orleans doesn't have much capacity to score in the post and because they are in need of upgrades on the wings, the Hornets simply aren't scoring unless the ball is primarily in Paul or West's hands during the possession.

Defensively, the Hornets have excellent and rank sixth in the entire NBA. They were 21st last season, so this is a return to the 07-08 and 08-09 seasons when they a top-10 team on this side of the floor. They guard against shooters well and in the post, plus they also prevent easy buckets in transition.

Desperation Meter: Everything the Hornets do these days is intended to receive a scream of approval from CP3 and this is their last deadline before they enter his walk year where the desperation meter hits Darren Aronofsky proportions. Trades in those circumstances are difficult to execute advantageously because it is obvious to everyone when they hear Lux Æterna in the background when they get Demps on his phone the way you would in February 2010 talking to Danny Ferry.

But the Hornets will have the best single player in any playoff series beyond a Finals matchup with the Heat, but the Lakers and Spurs will have the second and third best player. In order for Paul to overcome that deficit, he needs a reliable backcourt scorer that will get those hard-fought buckets in the final six minutes.

If the Hornets don't make at least a somewhat promising playoff run this season, it is easy to envision Paul forcing his way out one year before he can walk on his own via free agency. His career has fewer remaining years than many of his peers and he wants to play in a Finals while still in his 20s, because it is doubtful his body will allow him to play as long as someone like Steve Nash (who also has never reached a Finals).

New Orleans is good enough to get out of the first round without a trade, but would need to receive a windfall of injuries from their rivals to get much further than that unless they upgrade.

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