What Happened to the New Orleans Hornets?

Two years, ago, this team took the San Antonio Spurs to a game seven of the Western Conference semi-finals and lost.  And all everyone could think about was, this team is going to be a contender for the next 5 years, AT LEAST.  They had the best point guard in the league in Chris Paul, an up and coming emerging power forward in David West, a Peja Stojakovic who could still hit a three, and a supporting cast of Tyson Chandler, Morris Peterson, Chris “Birdman” Anderson, Bonzi Wells, Bobby Jackson, and Rasual Butler, to say the least????  What the heck happened to this team? If the playoffs started today, they’d be watching from the sidelines.  No more Tyson, no more Birdman, an injury prone Chris Paul.  Sure, they play in the powerful Western Conference but this team went from one of those scary teams on the schedule to a sorry ass, maybe sneak into the playoffs as an eight seed and one and done.  It goes to show you how hard it is to stay competitive for consecutive years, let alone 5 or 10.  Kudos to winning franchises like the Celtics and Lakers who have been winning for years, even through making trades. After losing to the Spurs at home tonight, the Hornets are now a whimpy 31-30, 1 game over .500.  I personally hope they make the playoffs so the Lakers get a first round bye, so to speak…