When former San Antonio Spurs executive Dell Demps was introduced as New Orleans general manager in July, he immediately vowed to improve the Hornets ability to scout international players, an area in which the Spurs have excelled. While New Orleans revamped front office must wait until at least next years draft to demonstrate their skill in that category, Demps found an infusion of talent this offseason in a very unlikely location: the NBAs Atlantic Division.
In a pair of trades that went almost completely unnoticed amid The Decision and various other big-name free-agent power moves, Demps acquired Marco Belinelli from Toronto and later dealt for Philadelphias Willie Green and Jason Smith. The deals received brief mention on NBA shows across the country, before everyone quickly went back to arguing about whether LeBron James took the easy way out, or whether Amare Stoudemire was enough to finally get the Knicks back into the playoffs.
Despite their lack of acclaim, two weeks into the regular season, Green, Smith and Belinelli who each had relatively minimal roles on non-playoff teams in 2009-10 have been critical elements to the best start in Hornets franchise history. Green and Smith came off the bench in 109 of a combined 129 appearances they made for the 76ers last season, while Belinelli was a fringe rotation player for the Raptors. As Hornets, Belinelli and Smith have been given the biggest opportunities of their NBA careers to contribute, while Green has served as a glue guy for a New Orleans bench that was supposed to be a major weakness.
Hornets center Emeka Okafor recently noted that one key to the teams early success has been its large group of players who have something to prove a list that also includes Okafor after his disappointing 2009-10 debut with New Orleans. Dell did a great job of getting talented players who are also hungry, Okafor said. Theyre guys who want to win, who havent had the best chance to win with other teams, but can play.
Its an apt description for three major contributors to the Hornets fantastic start to the 2010-11 regular season, a development no one outside the Big Easy saw coming.
Though its extremely early, if New Orleans returns to the playoffs in 2011, the play of several Hornets who were far removed from the leagues headline-generating summer will be one reason. There may be NBA teams with more talent on paper, or a more extensive track record of past success, but few clubs possess as many players as motivated by their prior NBA experiences.
Its been a blessing, Green said of the Hornets start and short-term outlook. I believe Coach Monty and Dell have done a tremendous job of bringing in guys who fit what were looking for as a team. We knew this was going to be a good, scrappy team. It feels good to be able to come in and do the things were doing.
We always tend to get those guys that play with something to prove, Paul said. And I love playing with those guys.
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