In Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen’s own words…
In years to come, there promises to be a new cable-TV partnership, the NBA All-Star Game will return to the city, the New Orleans Arena will undergo $50 million in improvements, and the franchise, in all likelihood, will be rebranded. The “Hornets” nickname, which followed the team to New Orleans during its 2002 relocation from Charlotte, will probably be replaced by an identity more fitting to the city to which the team is now married, for better and for worse. Though everyone involved hopes the worst is now far behind them.
Excited now?
Bring Back the Buzz 
Just because the name may become vacant in the future does not mean that the cats will spend millions of dollars to rebrand themselves, but they should.