Considering the fact that the New Orleans Hornets finished the season with a very disappointing 37-45 record and missed the post-season after two straight playoff appearances, it is no surprise that the franchise from Louisiana is looking to make some change during the off-season.

While New Orleans' performance in 2009-10 left much to be desired, it should be mentioned that franchise cornerstone Chris Paul sidelined no less than 37 games and was sorely missed by his teammates. Yet, one positive effect of Paul's injury turned out to be the extended playing time given to rookie guard Darren Collison who showed that he is already capable of being a serviceable starter. More precisely, Darren Collison averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in just 27 minutes per contest.

Even though Byron Scott was named coach of the year in 2007-08, the disastrous performance of the Hornets in this year's NBA campaign inevitably led to him being fired down the stretch. Last week, New Orleans' front-office announced that 38-year old Monty Williams is going to coach the team in 2010-11 as he signed a three-year contract in Louisiana. Williams played in the NBA until 2003 and gained some coaching experience as assistant coach to Nate McMillan in Portland over the past few years. Yet, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to help the Hornets to get back on track. After all, the team around All-Star guard Chris Paul is stuck with several bad contracts which in combination with their small market size makes it extremely difficult to become a major player in free agency.

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