I wasn't going to comment much on Pargo's departure since Dave Berri covered it quite well statistically and Ryan Schwann covered the personal aspect of it excellently. But a few of you have e-mailed in the last week asking for my take things. So I shall oblige.

I definitely hate to see Jannero Pargo, the person, go. He was a terrific guy on the court and off of it, and I don't think you can find a single Hornet fan that didn't enjoy his wild gunning. I'm sure the rest of the Hornets are sad to see him go, and I'm sure the front office seriously considered re-signing him.

But player and personnel decisions are never made in a vacuum. Like Mike at HornetsHype and I have mentioned numerous times, Pargo's departure makes a ton more sense if you consider the current roster and payroll. Re-sign Pargo and we're paying a 3rd string point guard 6.25 million dollars. Any way you slice it, that makes no sense. I'm coming closer and closer to deeming the Houston trade failure, if only because the Rockets dumped James' contract on us.

And this isn't just about the dollars. Matt of Pounding the Rock mentioned that any player can walk up the court and chuck the ball up at a 35% rate. While I think that's a little unfair to Pargo (because of his defensive efforts), I agree with the general sentiment.

On top of all that, we have a pretty biased view of Mike James as Hornet fans. We saw him play a paltry 183 minutes, in irregular intervals, with various injury issues. Anyone who claims to accurately judge a player in 183 minutes is not to be believed. 183 minutes? That's barely 5 or so full games. You really want to write off his first 11,000 minutes because of his last 183? Be my guest, just don't aspire to be a GM.

James has outperformed Pargo in his career at basically... everything.

• 37.8% to 36.5% 3P shooting
• 25.3% to 22.3% assist rate
• 13.3% to 14.7% turnover rate
• 213 to 13 Games Started at point guard
• 3.0 to 3.2 personal fouls/36 minutes
• 53% to 47.8% True Shooting Percentage
• 73% to 84% of shots coming on jumpers
• 13% to 19% of inside shots blocked
• 15.1 to 11.7 PER

Sure, Pargo is 4 years younger than James. MJ hasn't played much defense since his Detroit days. But in his Piston tenure, he was a defensive sparkplug so I wouldn't be surprised if Byron could whip him into shape.

I'm happy that Pargo could help us out these last two years. I'm happier that it will be Mike James out there for the next two.

Not much news for the Hornets these last few weeks. A quick rundown of the latest proceedings, or lack thereof:

We'll start with Mr. Paul. First, check out this short interview with Olympians Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, and CP. Paul mentions that he shares a sports agency with Michael Phelps among other things. But the funniest part is Boozer's and Paul's grasp of the English language compared to Carmelo Anthony's. Take, for example, this gem from 'Melo:

People that I would never thought.. a lot of people don't understand the preparation that they prepare

The Ryan Bowen news is a bit old, but it was only made official yesterday. My favorite part is how ESPN and Yahoo reported it as "Hornets sign veteran forward Bowen" and how it was the number one headline on both sites. If only they also included "Bowen was one of the premier defenders of the Southwest Division and was last seen by the Hornets in Game 7 of their series with the Spurs."

"We’re very pleased to re-sign Ryan due to his ability to provide a spark off the bench and how well he fits in with our team," said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower. "Ryan is a great asset to our team both on and off the court. When he is on the court, he has a nose for the ball and is always giving his all to help our team in anyway possible."

ShamSports also offers his take on the Bowen signing and the Hornets' bench in general. A snipper:

The New Orleans Hornets re-signed Ryan Bowen. Yeehaw. The Hornets' bench now reads thusly: Mike James, Rasual Butler, James Posey, Bowen, Hilton Armstrong, Julian Wright, and Melvin Ely. Who out of that lot do they expect to be a sixth man, exactly? They appear to have moved on from Pargo and Bonzi Wells, two players always willing to fashion a shot, even if they're not always a good idea. So who's going to provide the bench offense here? I'm aware that Chris Paul is basically Jesus, who could get even me an easy basket, but the real Jesus had a few days off, too.

Interesting take. I hadn't thought of our bench in the context of a sixth man before. I suppose Posey's the first guy off the bench, right? Wasn't he Boston's 6th man this year? They kind of just won a championship.

Let's move on to the Jannero Pargo saga. Last week, the Times-Pic reported that the Hornets no longer had their sights on JP. The San Antonio Express then reported that the Spurs had offered him a 2 year, estimated 4 million deal. It's been a week, and that deal is still apparently on the table. Why hasn't Pargo taken it then? The Phoenix Suns might be the reason, according to recent speculation.

A guy who the Spurs drafted and then sent to the Phoenix Suns on draft night may have a lot to do with why free agent Jannero Pargo has not yet signed with San Antonio.

[A]ccording to two Phoenix area newspapers, the East Valley Tribune and the Arizona Republic, if [Goran] Dragic stays in Europe, Phoenix might be making a play for free agent Jannero Pargo—the same player the Spurs have been after since finding out that he wouldn't be returning to the Hornets.

Hmm. I'm not really sure why Phoenix would want Pargo. He's basically a terrible shooting version of Leandro Barbosa. Why not sign a 3rd string point guard at the minimum, instead of throwing 2 million dollars at Pargo? Either way, I'm dying to post my Pargo write-up. I've had it finished for a week just waiting for a deal to go down.

The preseason is fast approaching, and the Hornets will be traveling to Europe for a couple game. From the Associated Press:

The Hornets take on the Washington Wizards on October 14 at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany. The game will be one of the first major sporting events held at the arena, which opened last fall. The team will close out NBA Europe Live on October 17 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.

Cool stuff to be sure. Also of note: many of the Celtics players credited their pre-season experience in Italy as an integral part of their success this year. Can Berlin/Barcelona do for the Hornets what Rome did for the Celtics?

And now, time to end with a flurry of Chris Paul stories. First, for those of you into fantasy basketball, CP warrants some serious consideration at the second overall spot:

Where does that leave us now with the #2 pick? Happily calling on the name of the point guard who can shove Superman to the curb, that’s where... If you are lucky enough to draft Paul for your team this year, smile early and often and build a great team around him.

I remember drafting Chris Paul his rookie year in the 6th round or something. Nobody knew who he was, and he promptly proceeded to dominate every point guard not named Steve Nash. That was also the year nobody drafted T-Mac, and I picked him up off waivers... now that I think about it, maybe I need to start playing in some harder leagues...

An ESPN reporter documents his Beijing experiences. It's highly amusing and a great read. We get this CP-related nugget:

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. There are not a lot of black folks running around Beijing. A Chinese man stopped me and asked to take my picture. Within moments, I was posing for pictures with a steady stream of men, women and children. I wondered whether they had never seen a black guy or whether they thought I was an athlete. Hey, I can flatter myself. I'm trying to figure out which athlete I could be. How about Chris Paul? Sure, I'm a good 20 pounds heavier. OK, 25. But we're about the same height, and we have brown eyes and nice smiles. Chris Paul. Hmmm. Sorry, Chris.

Haha, that would be awesome if Chris Paul ran into this guy signing autographs as "Chris Paul."

Lebron, Kobe, and D-Wade have all chimed in about possibly playing abroad. Finally, we get Chris Paul's take on moving overseas:

What would you do? Show me a person that’s not going [to sign for that much]... maybe Bill Gates. 

Sick of CP3 yet? No? Okay cool, I'm just getting started. Inside Hoops has a Q&A with Paul after the China game (but before today's Angola contest). A slice:

Question: Describe the atmosphere in the arena.

Chris Paul: It’s crazy. This is bigger than a playoff game. This is two countries playing against each other. The best of the best. All the anticipation leading up to the game … this is three years coming. It gets you ready to play. When the jump ball came there were a lot of emotions going through our heads. For the first couple minutes we were playing off emotions, but then we settled down and got going.

Doug Collins mentioned during the USA-Angola broadcast that one of the reasons Atlanta passed on Chris Paul (and Deron Williams) was Joe Johnson wanted to play the point. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith contends that's not the real reason:

The reason the Hawks didn’t take either of those point guards, and they worked both of them out, is that they were convinced that they needed a veteran point guard (huge mistake). They didn’t think Williams or Paul was ready to lead a team from the first day of training camp (another huge mistaken evaluation).

In fact, my notes from interviews with Knight, Woodson and other members of the front office staff at that time went something like this: "Paul’s just too little. He’s going to be a liability on defense and he’s not a great shooter. They liked Williams better, he’s bigger point guard, but his body type worried them. He didn’t look to be in great shape during the workout. Not sure he’s a good enough shooter for what we need, though."

What I can say with certainty is that neither Knight nor Woodson was sold on those point guards. That’s why they passed on them.

Thanks, Atlanta Front Office. You guys rock.

A Bleacher Report writer gives his take on things that would make the NBA awesome next season. Number one on his list:

Chris Paul shows us we haven't seen nothing yet.

That'd be awesome. I'm going to do a post in the next few weeks analyzing if CP's last season was an anomaly or not. But if he continues to improve at his current rate, he could definitely make a run at the G.O.A.T.

I'm in favor of the last item on that list as well:

Ray Allen legally changes his name to Jesus Shuttlesworth.

And last but not least, check out HornetsHype's Chris Paul-specific recap of USA-Angola.

The announcers spend most of the rest of the quarter talking about how CP sparked the team tonight, and then to prove their point, The One picks up a loose ball and throws in his trademark tear-drop over four outstretched Angolans, to lead the team to a 81-53 lead after three. Memo to Coach K and Cavs fans: Team USA looked 100% better after Lebron sat down and CP was able to get guys to play together.

The LBJ ball dominance was something I noticed during the pre-Olympic games. I didn't see the Angolan game, but it sounds like that happened again. I guess "global icon" comes before "not playing the point when the best PG on the planet is on your team"?

With most of the big FA's on the verge of deals, the spotlight is now on teams like the Hornets and lesser free agents. The salary cap, announced yesterday, has been set at $58.68 million, the luxury threshold at $71.15 million, and the midlevel exception at $5.585 million.

Pradamaster did a great breakdown of the Wizards' cap situation over at Bullets Forever today, and I thought I'd emulate it for the Hornets. So here goes nothing:

Clearly, we have a ways to go before hitting the luxury tax level. That's misleading though. Since we're right at the salary cap, we can only use the full midlevel exception on free agents and nothing more.

Who can we get?

Jannero Pargo (last year: $1,183,000): The General qualifies for the "Early Bird" exception. This means that since he's played with us for 2 straight years, we can sign him even if it takes us over the salary cap (which it will). I wrote yesterday that the Hornets shouldn't bring him back. Current reports have him asking for a 3 year deal, and reported suitors include the Nets and Jazz. Bottom line: he'll be back if we want him.

Josh Childress (Restricted, last year: $3,600,000): The whole Elton Brand mess means the ATL might not match a midlevel offer to Childress (since the Clips could toss around 15 mil. at J-Smoove). Bottom line: we could get Childress with the full mid-level.

Mickael Pietrus (Signed Orlando, MLE: $5,585,000): I put this here because the Pietrus deal is interesting. I'm convinced Orlando overpaid. More importantly, the Pietrus deal virtually guarantees that Childress will command more than the mid-level. So maybe Childress is out of our reach after all.

Shaun Livingston (last year: $4,404,629): Oft-injured, the 21 year old Livingston could come dirt cheap. If the Hornets decide to chase a free agent with only part of the MLE, they could acquire Livingston with the remainder. Bottom line: No, thank you. I'd rather go all out for a Posey or a Childress.

Juan Dixon (last year: $2,550,000): Would be a cheap 3rd PG if Pargo or James were to leave. Bottom line: Same deal as Livingston- breaking up the MLE isn't a good idea.

We interrupt this telecast to present you with the following message: I'm gonna stop listing players like Dixon and Livingston because thinking up different ways to say "don't break up the MLE" is going to get taxing.

Now back to the scheduled program.

James Posey (last year: $3,206,000): Whoever gets Posey will end up over-paying. Posey certainly isn't worth the full mid-level. That said, he is worth it to a team he would put over the top. Which, arguably, is us. Bottom line: Offer him the full mid-level. His offense is overrated with all those dagger threes fresh in people's minds. But his defense is for real.

JamesOn Curry (last year: N/A D-League): Just kidding. I just love writing his name. JamesOn. JamesOn. JamesOn.

Ricky Davis (last year: $6,810,000): Wait a few seconds before you laugh me off the stage. He's not as bad as you think. Bottom line: He'd be a very nice consolation prize if we lose out in the Posey race. I seriously doubt any team offers him more than the mid-level.

Kelenna Azubuike (Restricted, last year: $687,000): Hustles, great energy, solid defender, killer name, good shooter, 24 years old... it's interesting that his upper level is considered the mid-level. The Spurs were thought to be his biggest suitors, but the Roger Mason Jr. signing ends that. Bottom line: You know what? I'd be just as happy to get Azubuike as to get Posey.

Bonzi Wells (last year: $2,284,000): I made the case for Wells a couple of weeks back. I still stand by it. There's a way we could get Wells without touching the mid-level exception or hindering any other free agent signings- the Million Dollar exception. It's a 1.91 million dollar exception designed for NBA veterans. If Wells is willing to take a slight pay cut (300 grand), he can potentially be back, next to Julian Wright and one of Posey/Davis/Azubuike. Bottom Line: Ryan Bowen's departure opens up a roster spot. At the very least, I would extend the 1.91 mil. exception to Wells. Plus, re-signing Wells makes another back-up big unnecessary (since Bonzi can man the 4).

So there you have it. My best guess: we re-sign Pargo (early Bird exception) and acquire Posey/Azubuike (full MLE).

Had we not sold our 27th pick, you know what we could've done? Re-sign Pargo, draft CDR, and acquire Turiaf (most of our MLE, and easily outclass GSW's offer of 4 years, 17 mil).

Pargo/CDR/Turiaf sure beats Pargo/Posey...

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.

Ah, the point guard position. The Hornets' best position historically (Bogues, Davis) was taken to new heights this year by MVP-runner up Chris Paul. Bobby Jackson started the year in a back-up platoon with Pargo, only to be replaced with Mike James midway through the year. Pargo's shooting came and went, but Paul was the rock at PG. A game-by-game look at CP and JP:

Best Game: February 6th @ PHO. CP played numerous terrific games against Phoenix, but this was the granddaddy of them all. With 42 points, 9 assists, and 8 steals, Paul barely missed the crazy points-assists-steals triple double. His best game was either this or his 21 assist night.

Trends: My favorite thing: look at CP's bad games. Then look at the game immediately following. The guy simply does not have two bad games in a row.

Best Game: Same game. Pargo started that Phoenix contest for the injured Mo-Pete, and responded in style with 19 points, a three, and 5 assists with just one turnover. That game was one of the main reasons Jeff Bower felt comfortable enough to trade Jackson and acquire Wells.

Trends: Huge downward and upward swings characteristic of a streak shooter. Pargo peaked post All-Star break after taking almost 4 whole months to get in rhythm. He went into the playoffs on a low note, but did contribute well against Dallas.

Well, the end of the How'd He Do series is imminent. All the major players are in the books, with only Ryan Bowen, Rasual Butler, Chris Andersen, and Mike James left to review. So this is probably a good time to stop and check out what's gone down thus far. Thanks to all of you that voted, you've helped create the first ever batch of Hornet approval ratings!

• Melvin Ely (41%)
• Morris Peterson (67%)
• David West (95%)
• Bonzi Wells (58%)
• Peja Stojakovic (91%)
• Jannero Pargo (70%)
• Hilton Armstrong (34%)
• Tyson Chandler (97%)
• Julian Wright
• Chris Paul (100%)
  

As I mentioned in some of the comments, I removed '1' ratings for a few players. Seriously, Peja did not have a 1 season. Neither did David West or Tyson Chandler. Get over New Orleans' success, bitter fans of other teams.

The top 3 were CP (duh), TC, and DX in that order. Peja was 4th, and General Pargo overtook Mo-Pete for the 5th spot. Bonzi probably caused the most division. Some people (myself) had him high, while others pegged him as a 1. Ely and Armstrong didn't score well, but hopefully they will both rebound excellently. Finally, I'm surprised that Tyson finished higher than DX. Interesting.

The How'd He Do is the first part of @tH's player review series for the summer. Next up are some funky graphs and a best game thingamabob (huh, the spell check recognizes this??). The draft can't come soon enough...

The news is coming fast and furious now that draft workouts have begun. Jim Eichenhofer has some great question and answers with yesterday's participants. I found this response by Arkansas G Sonny Weems particularly funny:

Q: Which players do you compare yourself to in the NBA in terms of your style of play?
A: Probably Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers). The way he runs the floor and defends and rebounds. But I think I can probably dribble a little bit better than he can and shoot a little bit better than he can.

Somewhere, Iggy is laughing. Then again, Weems can fly just as high as Andre.

Taking a break from workouts, it appears that LAC guard Shaun Livingston will not be given a qualifying offer from the Clips. HoopsWorld breaks it down:

This means Livingston will be free to sign with whomever he likes, though considering he is still recovering from that horrible knee injury it's doubtful teams will be lining up to offer him big money. Or maybe any money.

So, a very young guard (22) that can be had cheaply. Granted, he's frail as a toothpick (6'7", 182), but he'll be cheap as dirt. A former 4th overall pick, he's certainly worth a look.

Workouts again. Jeremy Pargo was one of the five players brought into Hornets' facilities yesterday. Initially, I thought Pargo was going to withdraw his name if he wasn't a definite draft pick. Now, WWL is reporting that he will withdraw if he isn't a definite first round pick.

Jeremy Pargo worked out for the Hornets Tuesday as his brother watched... Is Jannero giving Jeremy any hints to prepare him for workouts and a professional future? "He didn’t," Pargo said. "He knows I understand what I have to do and the things that come along with it from watching him. He leads by example."

Shan Foster impressed during his workout. The Vandy guard is originally from Louisiana (Harvey) and was the SEC Player of the Year. The Times-Pic has the details:

Foster' perimeter shooting caught Hornets Coach Byron Scott's attention... "We think (starter) Mo Peterson did a heck of a job, but we really need a shooting guard that's really athletic and can get up and down the floor," Scott said.  "He can flat out shoot it, and he moves extremely well without the ball."

That same article also had a quote from Byron Scott about Jeremy Pargo:

"(Jeremy) is stronger and more explosive than (Jannero)," Scott said. "Jeremy is going to dunk it; Jannero is going to lay it up."

Lots of Pargo news today, but this last one is probably the most important. Same article:

Jannero Pargo said he will opt out of his contract to enter free agency July 1, but he is hoping to get a long-term deal to remain in New Orleans.

Same deal as last year. Not entirely unexpected, but it obviously would have been a ot nicer if he picked up his option.

Hornets.com's Jim Eichenhofer writes a piece for his former employer, the Finger Lakes Times. It's primarily about the numerous perks he gets as the main writer for the Hornets. Coincidentally, it's also about the numerous perks that we Hornets bloggers don't get. /Sad Face

Two tickets to every home game. Replica jerseys. Game shorts. T-shirts. Free dinners. Bobblehead dolls. Team posters. When I accepted this job in the fall of 2005, I figured there might be a few unforeseen perks to working full-time for a professional sports team. I had no idea how lengthy the list of items would actually be.

The Hornets won't be the only people giving Chris Paul some big money this summer. Deodorant company RightGuard has signed CP3 as well, reports AdAge.

A forthcoming TV spot starring Mr. Paul shows a series of his on-court highlights, backed by a voice-over: "The game has gotten faster, the players, bigger, and the armpits, well ... looks like we got here just in time."

CP has also made his second career SLAM cover. And the picture of him driving looks pretty cool. Currently, it's only out in New York City, but they say it should be out nation-wide over the weekend. An excerpt:

By the time the season ended last month, virtually every game was sold out, people were rocking Hornets gear all over the city and everywhere I went, people only wanted to talk about one topic: Chris Paul. A few things happened in between—such as the Crescent City hosting the All-Star Game and the Hornets becoming a legit contender—but without a doubt, the transformation of fans into devotees, casual fans into fanatics, apathetic non-fans into casual fans and a national audience into true believers was due to CP3.

The workouts continue today, with potential draftees probably working out right now as I type. Jim Eichenhofer delivers the details one more time; coming in today: Mark Tyndale, Wayne Ellington, Lester Hudson, Patrick Ewing Jr., Josh Duncan, and Keith Brumbaugh. And by the way... Josh Duncan is a 6'9" power forward from Xavier, "has decent range on his jump shot, has a high basketball IQ and is an above-average free throw shooter (85% over four seasons)." Hmmm.

Finally, my favorite article of the day, about Julian Wright returning "home" to Kansas. KUSports has some great insight into how Wright developed as a player during the season, what the Hornets got him for Christmas, and even an Adam Haluska mention. I'll finish with some quotes from JuJu himself:

“What happened is David West was hurt and I was having a good stretch of practices. I got confidence from playing in practice. I finally started to understand defensive schemes which is what he (Scott) was looking for. That’s what keeps you on the floor... There’s a lot of turnover in coaches in the league. The fact [Coach Scott]’ll be there ... I can get established in the Hornets’ system and thrive in it."

I can't even remember the last time I did a 'Hornets on the Internets', but it's time to bring back that treasure from our past, that pointlessly hyped excuse for a mundane link dump, that evergreen gem from @tH's storied history.

A  RealGM article compares Chris Paul with Tony Parker, with good breakdowns in various categories. Now we all know who's better, but I've long called Parker the most underrated guard in the league (and you could make a case for most underrated player overall). An excerpt:

It’s easy to see that Chris Paul is a better individual talent than Tony Parker, but it’s a very close race. They have similar styles and both play the game aggressively. They both use their speed to enable them to wreak havoc on opposing defenses, and also to make the other facets of their games stronger.

Jannero Pargo's bro, Jeremy, might potentially come out of Gonzaga this year. This ESPN article delves into the issue:

...Pargo has a brother in the NBA (New Orleans guard Jannero Pargo) who is telling him he doesn't want Jeremy to go through the same arduous undrafted path to the league.

"He wants me to be smart about things," Pargo said at the Milk House on the campus of Disney's Wide World of Sports. "He doesn't want me to go through the same thing he went through."

Looking back at Tyson's draft profile aaall the way back in 2001. Check the link for both Tyson's baby face and more of the following analysis (other than the shooting part, they nailed it):

7 footers with his athleticism come around every 10-20 years. Has good desire, and intelligence. Good shot blocker. Has good passing ability. Can shoot the ball well, and runs the floor like a deer. Has a chance to be a special special player in a few years.

Let's continue looking at the rear view mirror, this time at last year's draft. Remember when most everyone thought Julian Wright would be a top 10 pick? And then he fell to us? A look back at some of the concerns which led to him falling to the Hornets

One team who has been watching tape heavily of him in their war room came away less than impressed: "the more we watch him, the more flaws we see in him. I think we might have all gotten too excited after the Florida game." Another team that worked him out recently said that he "shot the ball poor from 17 feet and out, and really didn't do anything to ease our concerns about his NBA position."

Well, guess what? The signs of a potentially excellent shot are there, and he's proved he has the ball handling skills to easily handle the 3. In retrospect, we definitely did get a top 10 quality selection at 13.

Sure, everyone and their copy of Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell has heard that Byron Scott got extended. Personally, I hadn't yet looked into the specifics until now. The Times-Pic had this interesting comparison of Scott with other coaches making the big bucks:

Scott's contract is estimated at nearly $6 million annually... Los Angeles Lakers' coach Phil Jackson is the highest at $10.3 million, followed by Golden State's Don Nelson and recently hired New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, who both will earn $6 million annually.

This last one's not about the Hornets, per se, but it is about New Orleans basketball. Apparently, a film about a New Orleans high school basketball team, set for release in November, is being filmed over the summer. Ed Staton of Bayou Buzz has more details:

"Patriots" is based on a true story of how John Ehret High of Marrero won the Class 5-A state basketball over Woodlawn 62-57 in 2006. It is an inspirational sports film set in the aftermath of Katrina, where Al Collins, the Ehret coach, assembles a team of players who had previously attended five different schools and leads them on the path to the state championship.

Forest Whitaker, an Oscar winning actor, plays Collins… "It's got all the elements," said Mike Fisher, who is basketball coordinator for the film. "Unfortunately for New Orleans, it's got disaster, and it's got a bunch of kids that overcome a lot of obstacles, and it's got the aspect of the underdog."

Hmm. A bunch of guys that "overcome a lot of obstacles" that are "the underdog" and that play basketball in New Orleans. You sure this can't be upgraded from high school to the pros? I mean Forest Whitaker probably plays a terrific David West. Just sayin'...

This is probably one of the two biggest decisions the front office will make this summer (along with Wells). Stepping up to the plate is General Pargo. Should we re-up him? Should we acquiesce to his demands if he opts out again (like last year) and asks for more years and more moneys? Would it be worth acquiring a potential replacement for him (ie, T. Lawson or M. Chalmers)? Feel free to leave your thoughts. But first... How'd He Do?

The Man, the Myth, the Legend... General Pargo.

Positives: Literally carried the bench numerous times through the season and even in the playoffs, had a seriously amazing cut-down on turnovers (TOV% of 11.8, down from 14.1 last year, and 16.8 the year before), terrific at executing the full-court press, agility allowed him to effectively guard the quick guards of the world (Barbosa, Ellis, Terry to name a few), capably ran the fast break, durable (162 out of 164 games last 2 years), had a great off the court relationship with numerous players (Paul, Chandler come to mind), decent at the 3-ball (35%)

Negatives: The concept of "streak-shooting" has been mathematically disproven, but can you honestly say JP wasn't streaky this year?, terrible overall from the field (39% FG, 44% eFG, 47% TS), often dominated the ball even with Chris Paul in the game, assist rate declined for 4th straight year, not great at producing turnovers (1.7% steal rate), overall was very bad at offense (98 points/100 possessions) and that mirrors poor PER (11.9)

My Grade: 3, Explanation: As much as Pargo carried the bench, that's more a reflection of how atrocious the bench was than how good Pargo was. His 98 points/100 possessions ranked 12th on the team, behind such luminaries as Sool-but, Ry-Bow, and Marquinhos. Even in games where he "looked" like he was doing well, he often shot bad percentages from the floor. Still, he guarded quick 1's very effectively with his speed. In the end, I think Pargo can still be the back-up PG for a championship team. It just depends who the other back-ups are.