Emeka Okafor News

Coming off of a 7-59 year which turned out to produce the worst winning percentage in the history of the NBA, it's easy to look back at all of the decisions we've made over the years that ultimately lead to such a horrible squad.

The NBA draft lottery is set to take place in less than two weeks on May 30. Of course, the historically defunct Charlotte Bobcats possess the most ping pong balls going into the lottery process.

Each week, The Times-Picayune's New Orleans Hornets beat reporters Jimmy Smith and John Reid will take a topic or question and debate or analyze.

It's the dawning of a new era in New Orleans basketball, and with so much attention paid to matters off the court this season, I believe it's time to evaluate how our franchise performed during its time on the court.

By now, you've had a chance to digest the numbers the NBA released last week on the total games missed by individual clubs because of injuries to players.

The New Orleans Hornets are going to see how much progress Emeka Okafor makes in his recovery from his knee injury this offseason before making any determination about their plans for the seven-year veteran.

It's the dawning of a new era in New Orleans basketball, and with so much attention paid to matters off the court this season, I believe it's time to evaluate how our franchise performed during its time on the court.

The New Orleans Hornets will try to rebuild in the post- Chris Paul era. Fortunately, they're entering that era with a new owner who may be willing to spend money on free agents.

But for every sunset, there's a sunrise and once the final seconds ticked off the clock that night, the Hornets were set to move onto the 2012-13 season.

It's the dawning of a new era in New Orleans basketball, and with so much attention paid to matters off the court this season, I believe it's time to evaluate how our franchise performed during its time on the court.

After finally reaching the end of what has been a very trying year, we present to you one final set of power rankings overlooking the entire season.

Because of Chris Paul, Hornets fans were usually busy this time of year watching their own teams' games and worrying about the present.

Final regular-season statistics PLAYER, TEAM STATE TIE YRS. Caron Butler, Clippers UConn 9 12.0p, 3.7 Jerome Dyson, Hornets UConn R 7.4p, 2.1r, 2.0 a Emeka Okafor, Hornets UConn 7 9.9p, 7.9r A.J. Price, Pacers UConn 2 3.9p, 2.0a Down to $13,000 in its coffers at the start of this all-important presidential election year, the Connecticut Republican ... (more)

April 24, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; New Orleans Hornets head coach Monty Williams follows the action against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter at Oracle Arena.