A Collis[i]on of Redundancy at the Point

[I apologize if any of this is repetitious OR redundant, and I acknowledge several people have brought up somewhat similar points in the past. Therefore, thank you for the ideas (: ]

Yes, the trade deadline is long past. Yes, our trade options have been gone over hundreds, if not thousands of times on this site alone. And NO, I am not proposing a trade, just proposing we keep our eyes and ears on a young man in the league who has proven himself a hot commodity.

That's right, I'm talking Darren Collison: backup point guard, drafted by the New Orleans Hornets in the 1st round (21st overall) in 2009. Averaging 10.4 points, 4.6 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and making about 1.5 million this year in his first 55 games. As his scouting report suggests, he is very fast and very capable & confident running an offense. A pure pass-first point guard who will pile up assists, but can also burn defenses for over-playing him by hitting long-range jumpers. His flaw is he needs to do a better job limiting turnovers, & is still learning how to get high-percentage looks. He does lack size and doesn't provide much as a rebounder, but I don't think we are necessarily looking for that at the point.

The thing is, Darren has been mostly superior to his stats since CP3 went out 4-6 weeks ago, as DC has been starting in his place. He's recorded three double doubles, one triple double, scored 20 or more points seven times, broken Paul's franchise rookie record with 18 assists, and helped the Hornets go 9-9 in his first 18 starts. Over a six game stretch in mid-February the 6-foot, 160 pound rookie hardly played like a part timer, matching Paul's scoring average (24.0 ppg) in the seven games prior to his left knee injury. The 22-year-old from UCLA has led New Orleans to surprising wins over Charlotte, Boston, and Houston (all playoff contenders) and has now scored 17+ points in his last seven games (as of late February), including 20 or more in 5 of 6. His surprising production has been a byproduct of an uncanny display of composure, especially in light of the current playoff race.

Now, don't ask me why we signed 6-foot-1 point guard Travis Diener, who has played four games for Indiana earlier this season before undergoing surgery on his big toe and was released by the Pacers (worst team ever!). The Blazers traded Steve Blake to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Marcus Camby deal Feb. 16 but have three other point guards on the roster: Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless and rookie Patrick Mills. Now, I thought that part of the reason we traded Blake was to settle the PG pile-up we had this season, where Bayless was losing out on so many minutes that we had hoped to give him to acquaint him better into the league.

Diener is averaging 0.8 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists.

Alright, we know Andre Miller is not our point guard of the future, and so far we have given extremely limited minutes to Patty Mills for one reason or another, so therefore we can conclude that either Bayless is the man for the job, or will forever be a backup PG in our system (or a trade commodity). But for RIGHT NOW, Miller, Bayless, and Mills seemed more than acceptable, so why the need for Diener (or D. Wiener as I'd like to call him) for the playoffs?

KP, you've always been a man of the future, so figure out what you want to do at the Point. We could make Andre Miller a great trade commodity in a year's time, we could get a good amount in return for Bayless as well, but please, PLEASE, show some belief in what you have rather than pickup a 4th[!!!] pg when what we needed all along was a banger forward. However, if a true point guard is what we need in the future, please don't overlook Darren Collison.