Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason | Roster
Last year: 46-36, third in Central, sixth in conference
Coach/VP: Paul Silas/Bob Bass
Arena, first game: Charlotte Coliseum (19,925); Nov. 4, 1988
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 498-536/0
Notable: Wesley has started 285 straight, NBA's No. 3 active mark

THE ROTATION
Pos	Player	Key Stat	Skinny
PG	Baron Davis	7.3 apg	Emerging star just needs better shot
SG	David Wesley	17.2 ppg	Kind of like Jason Terry with move to SG
SF	Jamal Mashburn	7.6 rpg	Really stuck it to Riley in playoffs
PF	P.J. Brown	9.3 rpg	Great team player on team that needs it
C	Elden Campbell	13.1 ppg	Had his best season in years, really
6th	Derrick Coleman	34 games	Team generally loses when he plays
7th	Jamaal Magloire	78 blocks	Sophomore backup center earned time
8th	Matt Bullard	86 threes	Can fire it up; only made 43 two-pointers

		The Hornets are a quality team, but they need to get community support. If they don't have homecourt support, then there will be questions about them moving. That's all negative energy. On the floor, they were fourth in both points allowed and field goal percentage allowed a year ago. Derrick Coleman appears to be in better shape. Elden Campbell and P.J. Brown are steady in the frontcourt. Although Jamal Mashburn hasn't played in the preseason, he will have a similar impact. I like what I've seen from Lee Nailon, a lean 6-foot-9 player who can shoot. Baron Davis is a force; while he's an erratic shooter, he is quick and strong and can get to the basket and create plays. Plus, he's a bulldog defender. I don't see the Hornets regressing after blitzing Miami in the playoffs and giving Milwaukee all it could handle.

By Jeffrey Denberg
Special to ESPN.com

While their two owners have traveled the length and breadth of the South asking for a new arena and inflaming the passions of North Carolinians against them, the Hornets have been struggling to find their own identity so they can grow into the role of contender. That appeared within reach last season but they had to finish 21-11 to win 46 games and, while a playoff romp over Miami and a seven-game series with Milwaukee brought the crowds back to Charlotte Coliseum, the team's future remains a grave question.

Against a backdrop of plummeting attendance and a hearty local dislike for George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge, the Hornets will take another shot at being more than pretty good. Certainly, there are solid ingredients here, starting with coach Paul Silas, who earned respect with the way he steadied the team after the Bobby Phills tragedy and with the way he defused the several Derrick Coleman messes he inherited after Bob Bass became the only league executive to make Coleman a significant offer. With two years and $18 million owed, Coleman is a fixture in teal, even while the Hornets are potential nomads. Even Coleman is in shape this fall, so who knows.

Who's Who
With his team capped out like every other contender, Bass tried to fill in the cracks over the summer, signing three veterans -- Stacey Augmon, who can't score in a gym by himself, but defends; Matt Bullard, who can't defend, but is a terrific shooter; and Bryce Drew who might be useful as a backup point guard. The biggest addition could be rookie Kirk Haston, a 6-9 rifleman with very good shooting range who averaged 19 points at Indiana last winter. Haston, projected as a late first-rounder, went with the 16th pick after impressing one team after another with his skills. On the other hand, none of the new hands brings the energy that the Hornets got from Eddie Robinson, who spurned his first NBA team for Chicago after what he considered to be a low-ball offer.

FANTASY SLEEPER

Jamaal Magloire, C -- Given the minutes, Magloire has the raw athletic tools to help. At 6-10 and 260 pounds, Magloire is capable of pulling a Nazr Mohammed, who started to blossom in Atlanta late last season by averaging over 12 points, nine rebounds and roughly a block in the final two months. Magloire just needs Elden Campbell or Derrick Coleman to create an opening via injury or personal problem. Stay tuned.

The Big Question
Can the Hornets survive uncertainty that arrives in many forms? It's a given that Coleman will be a distraction at least a couple of times this season. He already said he should be a starter, though he backed away from that. If Silas decides to limit Coleman's minutes for whatever reason in favor of the big man tandem of Elden Campbell and P.J. Brown, Coleman will let the world know how he feels. Secondly, there is the question of energy. Robinson provided it for two seasons. Who steps up and breathes some life into the cavernous Charlotte Coliseum, which once rocked with enthusiasm? Preseason ticket sales are down, the town already rejected Shinn and Wooldridge on the arena question and only a sale to other local interests can turn things around in the public eye.

Best/Worst Case Scenario
The Hornets can win 55 games if things fall into place, but this could be a .500 team as well if Silas can't keep his players focused. They should be able to play on the high side with the versatile backcourt of David Wesley and Baron Davis to push it and Jamal Mashburn emerging as one of the top small forwards in the league last season when he averaged 20.1 points. So long as Brown and Campbell are healthy the Hornets will be more than competent inside. But don't undersell the significance of losing Robinson, whose 7.4 ppg on 53 percent shooting (that includes a lot of dunks) provided an incendiary spark off the bench. There's no one on the roster who can do that for the Hornets now.

OVERRATED	UNDERRATED	TEAM MVP
Derrick Coleman. Talk about underachieving. It's a shame, because he has talent.	Baron Davis. He and Andre Miller are the future of East PGs	Jamal Mashburn. His career in flux in Miami, he made a statement.