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Hornets at a Glance Coach: Paul Silas Last Year: 44-38 (Stats) Key Additions: SG Courtney Alexander Key Losses: SF Lee Nailon Projected Starters PG Baron Davis SG David Wesley SF Jamal Mashburn PF P.J. Brown C Elden Campbell Key Subs SG Courtney Alexander SG Stacey Augmon SF George Lynch C Jamaal Magloire

By John Hollinger, CNNSI.com

The Hornets have been a solid contender in the East for the past few years, but that was overshadowed by the team's offseason move from Charlotte to New Orleans. They figure to gain a few extra wins from moving out of their mausoleum in Charlotte, and a few more from playing opponents who spent the previous night on Bourbon Street.

But a few well-placed Hurricanes still won't get this team any further in the postseason. The Hornets have all the ingredients of a playoff team. They have a deep front line, they're well coached, and they have two go-to scorers in Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. It's just hard to see them doing much more. Mashburn's untimely illness during last year's playoffs didn't help matters any, but even he had been around this team lacked anything special to put them over the top, and they've brought back the same crew this year.

Baron Davis, G -- His relentless showboating for the U.S. national team may have been frustrating, but as an NBA player, Davis is an All-Star. The most overlooked part of his game is his defensive intensity. He has the size to cover for David Wesley at shooting guard and the quickness to stay in front of any point guard in the league.

Davis' jaw-dropping athleticism makes him deadly in the open court, where he routinely imparts facials on opposing big men. The scary part is that his jumper has improved in leaps and bounds with every season, suggesting he is still developing his game. The biggest area in need of development this year is free-throw shooting. Davis shot an inexcusable 58 percent from the stripe last year and needs to improve that if he is going to be the primary scorer on a team that is aiming to win the conference.

David Wesley, G -- Time for a lame pop culture metaphor: Wesley is like a Phil Collins song. Collins' songs aren't good, but none are bad enough to make you immediately change the station. So it goes with the Hornets and Wesley. He's not a bad player, so the Hornets can live with him at shooting guard -- they aren't scrambling to change the station, so to speak. But in a starting lineup where the other four starters are well above average, his mediocrity sticks out.

Last year, Wesley went from Against All Odds as a 6-foot-2 shooting guard to I Missed Again -- he shot just 40 percent. Wesley will be 32 in November, he looks to have lost some quickness, his rebounding is pathetic, and his lack of size can be problematic defensively. The Hornets best hope is to find someone truly good to play this position and move Wesley to a third guard role. But right now they're just waiting for a better song to come along rather than doing anything really drastic.

Will they move again in five years?

New Orleans looks like a great place for the Hornets -- for now. The deal that George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge finagled almost guarantees a profit, and the novelty factor alone should ensure a sold-out arena for the first year or two.

After that, it gets dicey. New Orleans is a small market, lacks a strong economy or a big corporate presence, and already has a more established pro sports team in the Saints. In short, it's like Charlotte, except worse. There aren't a lot of reasons to think the market will do better over time, other than perhaps Shinn and Wooldridge won't alienate half the fan base, as they did in Charlotte. Five years from now, it will be interesting to see if Shinn and company aren't talking with Louisville or Anaheim or Uzbekistan about being the next home of the Hornets.

A player short

Fast Facts • Jamaal Magloire was the league's only player to attempt more than 300 free throws without averaging double figures in scoring. • Baron Davis and Bruce Bowen were the league's only players to shoot above 30 percent on 3-pointers but below 60 percent on free throws.

The Hornets always have had a solid team, both in Charlotte and now in New Orleans. But throughout their history, they never really have scared anybody. Their best-ever playoff performance was taking the Bucks to seven games in the second round of the playoffs two years ago -- a good year, but hardly earth-shattering.

The reason is simple: The Hornets are the proverbial "nice" team. They have a star in Baron Davis, but not any superstars. They have a solid lineup, but are also weak at shooting guard. Their bench is pretty good, but it's not the Kings', either. The new surroundings should probably help their win total, if only by giving them a home-court advantage that was lacking a year ago, but they still look like a team that will have trouble winning more than a round in the playoffs.