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Following up on the last analysis of Okafor for Chandler, we will today be looking at another aspect of Okaforce's (No?) contributions. Emeka's long term deal for big bucks was the primary reason he was traded away from Charlotte, and has been one the biggest concerns amongst Hornet fans since his arrival in the Big Easy.

When discussing if a player is overpaid, it's common to look into the future, especially in regard to the years remaining on a contract, but with Okafor only 27 years old and still trying to fit into a new system, it's unclear how he will fare in the next couple of years. That being said, let's take a look at how Emeka's salary and performance compare against other centers, this year specifically. I'll be using a statistic that I think I made up called Salary Value, or S-Value if you will. For now this is a very raw formula, really for use in evaluating guys who play the same position. In the future I will certainly spend some time getting into more detail.

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Lately there has been more than a little Emeka Okafor bashing, with some even going to far as to say that an injured Tyson Chandler is better than a healthy Okafor. It's time that we get into some real detail about Okafor's play, and how much worse he has really been than Tyson.

First let's take a look at Tyson's first year in NOLA compared to Emeka's. Seems fair since it obviously takes some time for centers to adjust to playing a pick and roll offense, especially in a point guard dominated offense. Granted Tyson was a bit younger than Okafor when he started with the Hornets, but they both had accumulated about the same amount of NBA experience prior to coming to the Hornets. Here are some basic stats.

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Apologies to those of you who already know all about the extremely talented Marcus "Buckets" Thornton.

For the rest- It's odd that a second round pick having one of the best seasons in a stacked class is going relatively unnoticed. Even after his franchise record setting performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers, most fans still don't realize how special Thornton is.

How do I know this? Down here in the bayou, we are accustomed to being told what Hornets' players and management are thinking, especially by people who know very little about the players and the organization. It's really not that cool, considering the amount of time a few of us have to put into dispelling such myths, but on the bright side, it's an effective way of determining when a player has gone global. Hornets fans know that as soon as any player is recognized by outsiders to be a real talent, speculation will begin that they will be traded away.

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Ever since CP3 was first injured and Darren Collison proved a capable replacement, fans have been speculating that DC2 might be the next great point guard in New Orleans. His double-doubles remind us of a time when Chris Paul, the greatest point guard on the planet, was healthy and on the court wowing us more and more with each passing play.

Collison certainly has had a few CP3-like performances, such as his current four game stretch with 24 or more points in each, or his 18 point, 17 assist, 6 rebound night against Memphis at the end of January, the latter of which broke Chris Paul's all time Hornets' rookie record for assists in a game. Certainly that means he's at least on par with the rookie CP3, right?

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To start with let's run down the recent happenings regarding the Hornets.

Chris Paul had successful surgery on his torn meniscus, and has been rehabbing the injury twice a day. He claims his therapy is going as planned, so expect to see him back before too long.

As far as the actual injury goes, I've done a little bit of digging and found out that instead of repairing the torn meniscus, which can increase the rehab time substantially and is often impossible, Doctor James Andrews removed the torn part of Chris's meniscus. The benefit of this operation, as opposed to repairing it, is the recovery time. The average recovery time for an NBA player undergoing the removal of a partially torn meniscus is four to six weeks. I was unable to get an exact recovery timeline for repairing a meniscus, but it is certainly longer than removing it.

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