New Orleans Can Be an NBA Playoff Factor

With all of the big trades going on, I think some people have just begun to count out the New Orleans Hornets as a legitimate contender in the Western Conference. And I'm not even going to lie to you; I'm one of those people.

Everyone wants to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers and newly acquired Pau Gasol, the Phoenix Suns and newly acquired Shaquille O'Neal, the Dallas Mavericks and newly acquired Jason Kidd, and my pick to win it all, the San Antonio Spurs and newly acquired Kurt Thomas. But last time I checked, the New Orleans Hornets are in first place, and have been there for quite some time.

However, everyone is so quick to write them off because their young. Afterall, this group as a whole has not been to the playoffs, and they are a fairly young, or at least playoff-inexperienced team. But is that the worst thing in the world? While if you look back over recent history, yes, you won't see a team entering the playoffs for essentially the first time making it all the way to the NBA Finals. However, I've never seen a newly assembled team lead a conference the way these guys have so far this season. So who's to say they can't do the same thing in playoffs?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very skeptical of the fact that they could do it, but to put it out of reach for them may be a stretch. Let it be pointed out though that this team isn't "that" young. This is essentially the same team from last year, and they played great basketball for the better part of last season, and had it not been for an injury to Chris Paul that caused him to miss a huge chunk of games, he they would have made the playoffs. And had they just simply went into the playoffs and won a game or two, most of the basketball analysts would be picking the Hornets as the sexy pick given their one year of playoff experience. Without that little bit of experience though, they get no love.

Analysts also want to disregard the Hornets as factors in the playoffs because of all the other trades teams have made, but it is not as if the Hornets have been asleep at the wheel either. They just acquired Bonzi Wells and Mike James in a trade that John Hollinger of ESPN gives a "B-". And a B- minus trade is nothing to sniff at when you're already leading the conference! The addition of Bonzi gives the team a big guard and guy to give the ball to in those frequent moments of stagnation throughout the defensive oriented NBA playoffs. Mike James gives them added depth on the bench.

And how can I not talk about Chris Paul? There is only one player in the entire NBA who is objectively playing better basketball than he is according to Player Efficiency Rating, and that player is LeBron James. And he's in the Eastern Conference! Thus, any argument that Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, or Tim Duncan is so much better than Paul is void. I'm not saying he's better than any of them, but based on what he have sent so far this season, neither you or I have any reason to believe that he can't compete with them come playoff time. Especially since none of them can guard him.

So before you write the Hornets off- if you haven't already- just realize that the obvious reasons that you're using in counting this team out don't exactly have very much merit to them. Especially not at a point in the season where in late February we're talking about a first place team that just got better at the trade deadline.

Many of you will read this thinking I'm a Hornets fan, and I'm not. I am a proud New York Knicks fan (well as proud as we can be at this time). And like I said before, I'm not even taken the high road, because even after writing all of this, I still don't think the Hornets will make it out of the first round, never mind contend in for the West title. But like they say in the industry, that's why they play the game.