Fresh start, and a bright future in New Orleans, right? There's that new owner Tom Benson , ready to make it so that opposing teams know exactly who they're negotiating with when they pick up the phone. There's Chris Kaman, done for the season , off the books in the summer. Plenty of cap space, especially once the team passes on bringing back Carl Landry ( coach Monty Williams : "We've been evaluating older guys, even when they're not on the floor."), and possibly uses the amnesty clause on big man Emeka Okafor. And the draft picks — O, the draft picks. Slated to mathematically rank third and 10th entering mid-May's draft lottery, with a few games left to lose go in the season. The hope in New Orleans, we're assuming, is that general manager Dell Demps quickly takes to rebuilding with actual and available cash on hand, filling his roster with free agents and possibly using a draft pick to finagle some sort of rotation-aiding deal. Should Eric Gordon split, the team could see a cap space number in the mid-$30 million range, enough to pull in all sorts of superstar goodness. After one year in the abyss, the Hornets would be right back in that Western Conference playoff bracket. Possibly. There are other options, though. And fans of the team should not be upset if Demps and Benson don't race out to lock down every in-prime star that accepts their pen and paper. And until the rebuilding plan reveals itself, the team's fans should revel in the organization's true franchise cornerstone in coach Monty Williams.
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