The New Orleans Hornets are preparing for free agency and looking for players to compliment their All Stars and the draft picks.
Coach Byron Scott says Chris Paul, David West are the only two veterans they won't consider in a deal to improve the team. He does, however, seem optimistic of their offseason progress so far.
Going into the NBA Draft, Scott said his team's top two needs were a back-up point guard and added depth at the power forward position. The Hornets accomplished one of the two stated goals in the draft with the selection of UCLA point guard Darren Collison as the 21st pick in the first round.
New Orleans also added LSU shooting guard Marcus Thornton via a trade on draft night. The Hornets sent 2010 and 2012 second round picks to Miami in exchange for Thornton. The Heat had used the 43rd pick in the draft to select Thornton, before sending him to New Orleans on Thursday Night.
Introducing Collison and Thornton to the New Orleans media, Scott sounded an optimistic note on the NBA futures of his two newest players.
"We are so privileged to have these guys join our program because they are exactly what we have in mind as far as what you have to be on the court as well as off the court. - Great family backgrounds - Both these young men understand what hard work is all about and like Jeff (Jeff Bower Hornets G.M.) said they understand what winning is all about," Scott said. "That's what we're here to do to bring New Orleans a championship product and we're thinking today we're adding to the ability to do that."
Listen to Scott:
Scott explained that the pieces appear to be falling in place.
"We have a pretty good product out there already with Chris Paul and David West and Peja and Tyson and Julian and all the other guys we have, we really think we've added to the mix with Darren and Marcus. We're excited to get this thing started. Just talking to these two young men, they seem to be real excited about it. And you know the dream doesn't end today just because you got drafted,
that's part of the dream."
The coach said it won't be easy for the new guys.
"Now the reality is to come in here every single day and work your butt off and believe me I will test them; I will test them from a physical stand point as well as a mental stand point and I think both these guys have been through that enough to understand what that is all about".
On what he expects out of his top draft choice, Scott said he expects Collison to play roughly 12 minutes a game during his first season, but Scott also cautioned that both Collison and Thornton will have to earn playing time.
Looking ahead to the next stage of his basketball career, Collison (6-0, 166) said his 4 years of playing for the UCLA Bruins were good training to get him ready for the NBA.
"Being at the second highest level at a high profile school is definitely a lot of pressure. You got to prove to people why you fit in at that school. You got to compete every night in and night out because there's gonna be schools that just want to beat UCLA. And that's what we had to deal with since I was there
four years," Collison told the New Orleans media.
"So coming to New Orleans in the NBA you gotta compete everyday, and the difference is that you going to be competing against guys that might be better than you to begin with so you just gotta come in here with a humbling attitude and just be willing to work hard because if you're coming to work hard then Byron Scott's gonna get you ready".
Collison was a first team All-Pac-10 pick in 2008-09 and a honorable mention All-America last season. As a senior, he averaged 14.4 points, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game while leading the Pac-10 in free-throw percentage (.897).
As he gets ready to start his pro career, Thornton a Louisiana native who prepped at Tara High School before eventually winding up at LSU said he his very grateful for his two head coaches with the Tigers.
"You know John Brady
he was with me last night (draft night) when they called my name. He was a great coach. He helped me prepare myself for my senior year .Unfortunately things went how it happened with him, but
I still keep in touch with him," Thornton said. "Coach Johnson, (current LSU basketball coach Trent Johnson) I owe a lot of this to him. He bettered me at LSU the time he was there. He helped us have a good season. I think that made my stock go even higher so I thank him too."
Thornton (6-4, 205) played his junior and senior seasons in Baton Rouge after spending the first 2 years of his collegiate career at Kilgore Community College. Last season, while leading LSU to a 27-8 record including an SEC Championship and a victory in the NCAA Tournament, Thornton was named the SEC Player of the Year.
During his final campaign in purple and gold Thornton averaged 21.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contests.
What the NBA futures of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton are is anybody's guess. New Orleans Hornets fans are hoping the 2 rookies help solidify a bench that will aid New Orleans in going deep into the play-off next season.
For the latest on the New Orleans Hornets check out Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia on SportsTalk weekdays from 4pm 8pm on WWL-AM-FM-and-dot.com.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
