We came out at the start of the mid-season in playoff contention, solid playoff contention, but have missed David West for personal reasons and now have a season-ending injury to an important frontcourt player at the start of a long road trip. We lost at home to Utah, a team we should have whalloped; and lost to Indiana a team we should have beaten. What to do? 1) Get busy with J. R. Smith. The kid's a pro. Paul's a pro and won't let Smith's loss bother his game. Even though Paul loves J. R., the young PG is an old soul and a real leader. J. R. cannot be dealt with like chopped liver. He was a first round pick and the Hornets cannot let him get away for peanuts. I'd personally like to see Dallas take him and see M'Benga and a second round pick come to the Hornets. I believe M'Benga is ready to play 20 minutes a game with topnotch PGS. Smith should have a productive pro career and his agent needs to get busy. He's got game, but not everyone can play for Byron Scott, apparently. 2) Get another top flight front court player. Where? I don't know, but the Hornets should have made that decision by 2:00 AM last night. Apparently this Williams kid can rebound, but we need another finisher in the paint who's over 6'9". 3) Don't panic. And with Paul they won't. Once the team roster is settled I see more 5-6 game win streaks for the rest of the season with wins over the Lakers, Grizzlies and Spurs.
