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When I put together the Taking Offers for Paul post, there was a behind-the-scenes discussion with Henry Abbott of Truehoop about just how talent-bereft I thought his offer was.  I opened it by saying that as soon as I saw Marcus Thornton involved in the trade, I didn't even really care what the Hornets were getting back, the deal was dead in my mind.

The question, though, is whether I'm not just a little nuts to think that way.  There is a lot of sentiment amongst Hornets fans that Marcus Thornton is untouchable.  But should he be?  Let's break him down.

General Stats

Taking his season as a whole, Marcus Thornton graded out to be a bit above average.  If you look at his monthly stats, he did clearly have an generally upward trajectory(after a dismal December) but it's probably better to take his season as a whole to set a basis for what to expect next year.  Larger sample size and all that.  Here are his advanced stats, and the average stats of a shooting guard in the league who played 20 games and at least 15 minutes a game.

That is fairly solid production, and it's better than any Hornet shooting guard has produced since Eddie Jones. (apologies to David Wesley)  I still worry at times, however, that my pleasure of seeing the ball in Thornton's hands is more because I was starved of good wing play than anything spectacular on Thornton's part.  So, let's dissect his game, and and see if Thornton is a truly exceptional player.

Shot Selection

My favorite part about Thornton's game is his perpetual motion and ability to cut to the basket, receive and finish in traffic.  One of the main reasons West's assist totals doubled was purely due to Thornton receiving that bounce pass from the high post.  But was he exceptional at this?  Indeed he was:

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ESPN.com's John Hollinger and ESPN the Magazine's Chris Broussard are doing projections and previews for all 30 NBA teams and have ranked the Hornets as the 14th best.

Here is the Hornets relevant portion of the predictions:

14. New Orleans Hornets

The More Things Change: First and foremost, Chris Paul, who missed 37 games because of injury last season, is back, though he's not necessarily happy about returning to New Orleans. The Hornets' point guard wants to play for a contender, and new GM Dell Demps, along with new head coach Monty Williams, have tried to make moves to appease their superstar. They traded away his backup, Darren Collison, to bring in Trevor Ariza and sent Julian Wright to Toronto for Marco Belinelli. Both Ariza and Belinelli are young and full of potential. The hope is that with Paul getting them open looks, they'll finally tap their upside with the Hornets.

The More They Stay the Same: If Marcus Thornton can improve on his pleasantly surprising rookie year, in which he averaged nearly 20 points over the last three months of the season, the Hornets could have their best backcourt in recent memory. That would make the already-solid big-man tandem of Emeka Okafor and David West that much better, and with Ariza aboard, Peja Stojakovic can perhaps fill the role of sniper off the bench. Basketball-wise, it doesn't look as bad as many might think. But off the court, it's a mess, as the ownership transfer from George Shinn to Gary Chouest continues to hit stumbling blocks. Closure for this club won't come until Chouest is running the team."

A few other notes-

• Although it's better than league average, there are still 8 teams expected to be ahead than the Bees out west, which would leave them on the outside looking in come playoff time.
• Marcus Thornton is projected to lead the team in points per minute.
• Ariza is projected to average 15.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per 40 minutes
• Louis Amundson is expected to make a decision this week between the Pacers, Warriors and Hornets. "We're getting close to doing something," his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said. "I think we'll get something done with Louis this week."
• Rondo is off the Olympic team. Take that for what it is.
  

About a week ago I sat down, thinking about writing something about 'Melo, but opted against it. The lingering hatred of the Chris Paul rumors stopped me for a while, but with each passing day more and more experts are mentioning New Orleans as a possible landing place for Carmelo and I can't help but feel excited that the Hornets are being mentioned as a destination.

Let's start with going over the differences in the situations so nobody bites my head off. 'Melo is about to be a free agent. His contract expires after this season if he decides to not pick up his player's option. That's about 9 months away at this point, assuming the Nuggets don't surprise anyone by making a deep run. If they want to get good value on him they need to move now. There just isn't time to re-tool and convince him to stay, and there's no guarantee that he wants to stick around even if the team was better.

To be fair, ESPN is now reporting that Chauncey Billups talked to 'Melo, and is claiming that he's happy in Denver. Well, actually it just says that he loves the team, loves the fans, and loves the City. Some, including myself, can see Anthony following those statements with "but I'm just not in love with you."

I'm making that up entirely, but wouldn't it just make sense to hear it? The guy has a 3 year, $65 million dollar deal on the table with a looming expiration date on it  - and he hasn't touched it.

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As Monty Williams continues assembling what appears to be a talented group of assistants, one name remains missing. Former Hornets assistant Robert Pack, credited by both Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton as crucial in their development last season, has yet to sign with a basketball team for the coming season.

If Monty's brief track record of cleaning house is any indication, there won't be an announcement that Pack is returning. The Hornets have yet to retain a single coach from last year, in what is likely an attempt to cleanse the locker of of any lingering resentment from last year, and an effort to eliminate the mentality from the Bower era.

While Monty Williams isn't the first coach to completely clean house, and won't be the last, it seems unwise not to retain a coach as obviously talented and familiar with the team as Pack. The New Orleans native is a 13 year NBA veteran and has coached for only a single season. Despite being new to the coaching game, Pack played a huge role in the development of the rookies, both of whom gave the Hornets considerably more than was expected.

Earlier this summer I asked Marcus Thornton about Robert Pack and all of a sudden Thornton, who had been rather emotionless up to that point, seemed genuinely interested in the conversation.

Joe: I wanted to ask a little about Robert Pack and the role he played in your development.

Marcus: Ah man, he was huge. Me and DC will both vouch for him. I hope he's back because he was a big part of our success last year.

Joe: Anything specific?

Marcus: He was just there when we needed him. He brought us in hours and hours before practice and just made us do what we had to do to get better. He was a player once, so he knows what he's doing out there.

The Hornets had no comment when asked about Pack. What do you think? Is it worth it to bring back Robert Pack, or should the team continue it's complete house cleaning?

Two months into the season the media and basketball junkies worldwide are going to be talking about the New Orleans Hornets and Chris Paul as if they just crawled out of the swamp to become one of the better teams in the Western Conference. When that happens remember this post.

You see, the memory of NBA fans can be compared to a stoned elephant, or perhaps a goldfish swimming in Everclear. As soon as something new and flashy comes along or an completely fluke injury occurs to a star player they do a 180 on their stance, sometimes completely contradicting their previous sentiment.

Think about it for a second- Two years ago the Hornets were considered dark horse title contenders. ESPN experts had them as the second most likely team to win the NBA title. They weren't unrealistic though, and had the foresight to essentially predict what would wind up happening.

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