NBA Preview: Anthony Davis offers endless potential to New Orleans Hornets

New Orleans Hornets

Placing last season: 21-45 (15^th in Western Conference)

Key moves: Finishing last in the Western conference was good enough to secure the first pick in the draft for the Hornets and with that they took Anthony Davis, a center that could become a franchise player for New Orleans going forward.

Having the 10^th pick in the draft, the Hornets selected Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers’ son Austin from Duke. Besides that they made a number of trades for bench depth but little more.

Challenges ahead: This team is exceptionally young and raw. With few veterans there’s most definitely the potential for another disastrous season. If the rookies grow up in a losing atmosphere then it could be detrimental to their future development.

Reasons to be positive: Having the number one pick in the draft has revolutionized many a team in the NBA and Anthony Davis has endless potential. Davis got brilliant experience from travelling to London for the Olympics and getting playing time with the best players in the NBA.

Austin Rivers is another player with significant upside and following his trade from the Hornets last season, Eric Gordon has the potential to really assert his authority on a team for the first time having always played second fiddle.

Prediction: 26-56 (15^th in Western Conference)

image: © flyingsaab

Jason Torquato

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Jason Torquato has always been passionate about sport and has played golf and tennis from a young age. In recent years, he has mostly enjoyed sport from his sofa, which has allowed him to accumulate knowledge and good understanding of numerous disciplines, with a special focus on American sports. Jason can’t fall asleep or wake up without listening to a sport podcast.