I'm Back! ... and Jannero Pargo Shouldn't Be

Well folks, I'm finally back home! I hope you enjoyed my presence-less posts. Typing on a computer for the first time in weeks feels real weird. And all this crazy free agent movement I'm hearing about for the first time is pretty weird too. Seriously, T.J. Ford for J. O'Neal? B-Diddy to the Clippers? Like 8000 rookies to the Blazers? E. Brand to the Sixers? Maggette to the Dubs? But I'm gonna ignore all that for now and write about an idea that's been burning a hole in my mind for almost a month.

The Hornets should not bring back Jannero Pargo. Not because he's a bad guy. Not because he's a bad player. But because there's a dude named Mike James receiving a cool 6 million dollars for doing nothing. On draft night, the Hornets decided that they'd rather have 3 million dollars over J.R. Giddens, C.D. Roberts, or Richard Hendrix- all players that could step in immediately and help, no matter what Byron Scott says. How does it make any sense whatsoever to avoid paying a rookie scale contract to save money, then turn around and toss 12+ million dollars at your third string point guard?

The most ironic part is that Mike James is arguably better than Pargo. James' last full year saw him shoot 48 eFG%. Compare that with Pargo's atrocious 43.9% this year, and career 45%. Pargo's career turnover percentage is nearly 2 percentage points worse than James'. James has long been considered a ball-hog, but his AST% numbers make him look like John Stockton next to Pargo. The rebound figures are virtually identical. Pargo is definitely the better defender. At worst, James is at least as good as Pargo. At best, he's the far superior player.

Sure, he's 4 years older. But age isn't really a consideration for bench and role players. Reserves come and go over the years. Teams don't lock up bench players or try to acquire younger bench players because that's not how the game works. Once in a while, you'll see something like the Spurs and Bruce Bowen. That's definitely the exception.

Pargo's one of my favorites. He has a very engaging personality, has great rapport with guys like CP and TC, and is instant, if inefficient, offense. He's got the amazing ability to avoid Byron Scott's doghouse despite frequent 1-13 nights. That's all great.

The Hornets just have a weird situation on their hands. Getting rid of James would be more ideal than getting rid of Pargo. The way things stand right now, it doesn't appear that MJ is on the move. Unless something seriously changes and a trade avenue for James magically opens up, I'm crossing my fingers that the Nets or some other suitor snap up the General.