The Big Threeasy

Austin Rivers (left), Hornets' owner Tom Benson, and Anthony Davis (right). 1

The New Orleans Hornets had the fourth worst record in the NBA this past season. Prior to the season, the Hornets were all but forced to trade Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. The key player in that trade acquired by the Hornets was shooting guard Eric Gordon.

MURPHY’S LAW

Gordon is not the caliber of player that Chris Paul is. Paul is arguably one of the top five, certainly one of the top ten, players in the NBA. But Gordon is an elite NBA scoring threat. The addition of Gordon, along with former All-Star center Chris Kaman and former top ten pick Al Farouq-Aminu, should have been enough to keep the Hornets competitive in the 2012 season. The first round draft pick acquired from the Clippers via the perennial lottery participating Minnesota Timberwolves in concert with Gordon (with whom the Hornets have first right of refusal in free agency) should have reassured that all was not lost with the departure of Paul.

Gordon experienced and then aggravated a knee injury within the first weeks of the season and would not return until the final month of the season, in which the Hornets fate of 2012 NBA lottery ping pong balls was sealed. The Hornets also experienced a rash of injuries to their other starters and key bench players. At several times, the Hornets were forced to call up several Developmental League players at once just to fill their roster.

GLIMMER OF HOPE

The Hornets were clearly much more competitive when Gordon returned to the lineup late in the season. Gordon played so well, averaging 21 points per game on the season, that the Hornets went from being several games better than the Charlotte Bobcats for the worst record in the NBA to the fourth worst, meaning they had most likely played themselves out of a chance at the top pick in the NBA Draft. Still, Gordon’s obvious impact on the court was the key to the Hornets posting a winning record in the month of April. Hornets Fan had cause for a sliver of optimism.

Every NBA team is dependent on its fan base. The buzz generated by Gordon’s return to the lineup and the hot streak in April (the Hornets had won 8 of 12 games at one point) may have been worth the fall in lottery position. With the deepest NBA draft class in several years and two lottery picks, which could be no worse than the #4 pick and the #10 pick, and first right of refusal of Eric Gordon’s rights in free agency, the expectation in the Big Easy was that the Hornets would be competitive in 2013.

Gordon dunks against the Houston Rockets en route to a victory in the Hornets' 2012 home finale.

HIT THE LOTTERY!

The franchise’s future went from “brighter” to “blinding glare” when the Hornets unexpectedly won the first pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. While there were at least a dozen players in the draft with the ability to significantly improve a franchise quickly, there was one player with enormous transcendent potential: University of Kentucky power forward Anthony Davis. Winning the first pick meant that the Hornets won Davis.

Standing at 6’10” with a 7’5” wingspan, Davis is a player with unnaturally menacing length. His vertical leap makes him look like a moon walker in sneakers. He could seemingly block any player’s shot from any spot on the court at any time in college.

Davis, who averaged a solid, productive 14 points per game in his one season at Kentucky, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in spite of going only 1 for 10 from the field. The impact of his 16 rebounds, five assists, six blocked shots and three steals were more than enough to compensate for the paltry scoring contribution in carrying his team to a National Championship.

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THE BIG THREEASY

With the 10^th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Hornets acquired highly touted sharpshooter Austin Rivers (16 PPG in 2012) from Duke University. Austin Rivers is the son of longtime NBA player and Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers. Rivers will compliment Gordon’s presence in the backcourt. Davis, Gordon, and Rivers could have their own, very young, Big Three.

Nothing good comes without sacrifice. The best comes to those you wait. You have to go through hell if you want to get to Heaven. Pick a cliché. The Hornets and their fans went through all of it in 2012. The tribulations of losing the best player in team history in Paul may all pay off with the efforts of The Big Threeasy in 2013.

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