Hornets Happenings | Darren Collison Pick Brings a Great Yawn

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Hornets used their first-round draft pick to select point guard Darren Collison from UCLA.  This pick is likely not to excite Hornets fans very much.  To be honest, it does not excite me either.

The pre-draft scouting reports on Collison say that he has great quickness and long arms make him ideal on ball defensive specialist. However, he is very small.

Although standing in a  photo with David Stearn  makes him look huge, Collison is around 6'0" and 160 pounds, which is going to make it hard for him to guard some of the bigger, stronger guards in the league.

He plays hard both ends of floor the entire game which is something many of the Hornets do not. This would be a breath of fresh air in New Orleans.

He can create his own shot. Most of his scoring comes from  quick moves off of the dribble, but he has tendency to try and do too much and turn the ball over. He has also improved his shooting each year with the Bruins, ending as nearly a 90 percent free throw shooter, almost 40 percent from three-point land and 50 percent from the floor overall.

Being a four-year college player at a major college program, he has maturity (unlike prior No. 1s such as JR Smith), great experience, leadership and above average intelligence.

Both of his parents were former Olympic track athletes. Collison is projected as an NBA backup PG and defensive specialist.

This leads to the question that will be on most fans' minds: Why use your first-round pick on a player who is going to be a career NBA backup player at best?

The 2009 draft was not very deep. I believe that the Hornets had in mind point guard
Eric Maynor from Virginia Commonwealth.

Jerry Sloan and the Jazz scooped up Maynor leaving the Hornets scrambling for options. Some would have liked to have seen the Bees select monster center BJ Mullins from Ohio State to give the Hornets some needed help on the front-line. 

Mullins, however, is a project.  Unlike the four-year player Collison, Mullins is a barely 20 year old, one-and-out athlete.  He is going to be a project, and we all know that the Hornets have not been very successful bringing along young projects.

I am a bit more excited about the second pick, Marcus Thornton from LSU.  Many Hornets fans saw the toughness and grit the Thornton showed in the Tigers NCAA tournament run.

Thornton can do it all—almost. He can shoot form the outside, post up, play defense, and rebound.  He has a winning attitude.

However, if Thornton is going to be an everyday player, he must improve on his ball-handling.  Chris Paul can probably teach him a thing or two in that area.

Collison and Thornton are probably upgrades overs Antonio Daniel and Mo Peterson.  Was Collison worthy of the 21st pick? Probably.  Is Thornton worth two future second-round picks?  Only time will tell.

Now it is time for the Hornets to address the front court play in free agency. July 1 is coming soon. Let's hope the Bees have a plan.

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