
Stinging The NBA
The 06-07 Season was a disaster for the Hornets, they had a record of 26-56. This result was most likely due to the fact that through the season 4 out of the 5 starters were injured at one time or the other. Through November and part of December, Tyson Chandler was injured. Through January Peja Stojakovic and Desmond Mason were injured and finally through March Chris Paul was injured. After everyone on the team was healthy it seemed too late to try and make a run into the playoffs. Though GM Jeff Bower decided that he wanted to try and rebuild the Hornets, with young fresh talent. He saw the upcoming 07 Draft had great college players such as Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and more so he began trading for draft picks. He managed to secure the 1st round picks of both Philadelphia and Utah. Philadelphia was in shreds after the season ended, because they had the worst record in the league and traded away a 25% chance at the first overall pick.
Many trades happened in the previous season, with some awkward ones as well. The biggest trades to happen in the 06-07 season though were:
Heat/Pacers - Eddie Jones for Jermaine O'Neal
Mavericks/Jazz - Dirk Nowitzki for Andrei Kirilenko
Nets/Nuggets - Richard Jefferson for Kenyon Martin