He took a giant step in re-writing Hornets history by trading franchise piece Baron Davis to the Warriors, then selecting guard Chris Paul fourth overall in the 2005 NBA draft.

The disaster Katrina caused forced the Hornets to move to Oklahoma City until the 2007–08 NBA season, but Bower continued to build his club.

Injuries to Paul (for 18 games), Peja Stojaković (for sixty-nine), and scoring big man David West (for thirty) dampened the opportunity to make the playoffs.

They broke out, with the dangerous roster of Tyson Chandler (whom Bower traded for in 2006 for J. R. Smith), Paul, Stojakovic, West, and new acquisition Morris Peterson (from Toronto), with pieces like 3-point specialists Rasual Butler and Jannero Pargo (the former acquired in a 2005 trade, the latter left prior to the 2008–09 NBA season) and rebounders Melvin Ely and Ryan Bowen; and developing youth such as Julian Wright and Hilton Armstrong (both draft picks of the Hornets).

The general of it all was Coach of the Year Byron Scott prior to the 2004–05 NBA season, and the Hornets won 56 games, their first divisional title, and were labeled "contender" by many analysts.

[3][4] Bower's performance in spearheading the Hornets from lottery team to contender gave him 12 votes from the sportswriters for the Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year, behind Lakers' GM Mitch Kupchak and winner, Boston Celtics' Danny Ainge.

[5] Bower helped draft David West, J. R. Smith, Chris Paul, Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton.