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First off, summer league games mean next to nothing.  Many players who shine in the summer league end up doing nothing in the NBA.

However, while summer league games mean very little, the rosters that individual teams send can frequently tell you something about the team.

The roster the Hornets are sending to Vegas for the July 10th Summer League tells us two things:

1. The Hornets spent some effort after the draft trying to gather big men who had a potential NBA future for their team.
2. The experiment of trying Julian Wright as a backup point guard may not be at an end.

Other than Julian Wright and the draftees, the "big" names on the summer league roster are all potential Centers and Power forwards:

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The NBA Free Agency period commences tonight, as NBA teams may begin negotiating with Free Agents at 12:01 AM July 1st.  Usually, free Agency is usually a time for optimism.  The past few years, the Hornets have identified primary targets, and then gone out and signed them, picking up Peja Stojakovic, Morris Peterson and James Posey.  This time, however, I have a feeling a lot of Free Agents - and the fans of a lot of teams - are going to be disappointed because only a small number of teams are willing or able to offer sizeable contracts.

What the Hornets Can Offer

First off the Hornets are over the Salary Cap.  In the NBA, that means they can only make better than minimum offers to their own players or take advantage of a pair of Exceptions offered to all NBA teams.  The first is the Mid-Level Exception.  Every year a team is allowed to offer a contract or contracts equal to the average salary of an NBA player.  The past two years, the Hornets have made that offer to James Posey and Morris Peterson.  Teams are also allowed to offer a bi-annual exception every two years as well, which is a contract worth roughly double what most players would make on a minimum contract.  Both of these exceptions will be available to the Hornets this off-season.  So all together, if they wanted to spend, they could contracts worth about $7.5 million, with the biggest possible contract being worth about $5.6 million.

What Will the Hornets Offer?

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Last night, the Hornets selected UCLA point guard Darren Collison with the 21st pick in the draft, and later acquired LSU 2-guard Marcus Thornton (43rd pick) from the Heat in exchange for their 2010 and 2012 second round picks.

Both players will be introduced by the Hornets today at 3 p.m. Central. More info on that when we hear it. For now, let's see what folks are saying about the Hornets' moves on draft night...

NBA.com lists the Hornets among the losers on draft night:

Darren Collison may have been a reach at No. 22. And he's also a point guard. Finding a backup for Chris Paul, who plays a ton a minutes, doesn't seem to make much sense in the Big Easy. The Hornets need scorers, especially on the wing, to play with Paul.

Chad Ford's take at ESPN.com:

Collison is a bit of a surprise here. The Hornets had one tiny point guard in Chris Paul and now they have two. They had bigger needs than backup point guard, but I do believe he's going to be terrific in that role ... if Chris Paul ever leaves the floor, that is... Thornton played at LSU so he should feel right at home. He's a nice pick. He's a big-time scorer, but his lack of size and athleticism hurt his stock a bit. He has a chance to stick.

More from Ford, who gives a Hornets a B- grade for the draft:

A team with huge holes in the frontcourt addressed, instead, its backcourt.

I think Collison is rock solid and a terrific backup for Chris Paul. He's steady, he defends and he can really push the pace of the game. Thornton is a terrific scorer who slipped because of his lack of size and so-so athleticism.

I like the picks, with my only issue being that Hornets passed on a few big men who could have helped, like DeJuan Blair, B.J. Mullens and DaJuan Summers.

CBSSports.com on Collison:

Defensive stalwart ideal tag-team partner for Chris Paul ... Play versatile guard along Paul and Hornets fast break becomes blur.

SportingNews.com:

Collison is probably the fastest player in the draft, and he’s an excellent shooter, which is why he’ll be a perfect second-quarter point guard for the Hornets. He’s not terribly decisive in the halfcourt offense. He tends to over-dribble and is not a strong post passer. Those limitations may prevent him from ever becoming a significant regular. The Hornets might have made better use of Sam Young, but Collison is a solid pick.

At The Hive looks at some stats and finds that Collison may be better than most people think. An excerpt:

...let me address the "8th or 9th best point guard" deal. Collison was absolutely not the 8th or 9th best point guard in this draft. He was the 8th or 9th most hyped point guard in this draft. Huge, huge difference. For two straight years, he'd lost his buzz to more famous backcourt mates at UCLA- Russell Westbrook and Jrue Holiday...

Collison is a college senior, a category of player that empirically does not do well in the NBA. Flynn, Evans, and especially Holiday are absolutely teeming with upside while Collison has almost no upside. But can anyone definitively say Collison is not a top 5 point in this draft, filled with so many excellent ones? Absolutely not.

Some video of the newest Hornets:

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Tonight, the Hornets drafted Darren Collison out of UCLA and traded 2 future second round picks to Miami for Marcus Thornton of LSU.

That's a haul I can respect.  Of the players available when we picked, we essentially got my second and fourth choices, with DeJuan Blair slipping fairly deep into the second round with his bad knees(to the Spurs, ouch) and Sam Young sliding inexplicably even further.[Edit: Wups, right before. Doh.]

Once our haul was set, I began to think about where the Hornets were going to fit the new players into the rotation . . . and something interesting began to percolate in my mind.

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The TrueHoop Network has come together to host one mega live chat during Thursday's NBA Draft. Ryan and I may not be able to partake due to other commitments, but there will be plenty of good commentry and insight from the other infamous Network bloggers (check the roster via the drop-down menu at the top of the page).

You can follow the chat via the window below. It all gets going at around 4 p.m. Central. The draft itself kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Central, and you can watch it live online at ESPN 360. You'll also be able to watch ESPN's Draft Preview Show live online here. That's set for 6 p.m. Central.