Will New Orleans Miss Devin Brown?

UPDATE: This trade didn't go through, as Minnesota instead sent Hart's unguaranteed deal to Phoenix for Alando Tucker. But rumor has it New Orleans still has designs on exiling Brown, so the points stand.

The Hornets reportedly agreed to send Devin Brown to Minnesota in exchange for Jason Hart this morning, only to later recant as there's a hitch in the deal. One would assume the deal will get through considering the Timberwolves posted the news on their website earlier, and that Wolves GM David Kahn is telling reporters they are ironing out some details. (The kinks are likely wed to Brown's 10 percent trade kicker.)

Basically, the Hornets want to dump Brown, and Hart's contract can be torn up before the second week of January, getting New Orleans within about $2 million of the luxury tax threshold. The trade as constructed would effectively save the Hornets $2.2 million with the possibility it could lead to a move which would save an additional $4 million and potentially even net the team a non-tax pay-out of $3-5 million (assuming at least one other salary dump trade). So, to the Hornets, losing Brown is worth at least $2 million.

Fair enough, says I. But will the Hornets miss Brown on the court?

Brown has started 22 games at the two-guard for New Orleans, averaging 23 minutes a night. As Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson slink off to the farm, Brown has filled their old "designated shooter" role quite a bit, taking a career-high 5.8 three-point attempts per 36 minutes. And it's served him well, as he's at a career-high 41 percent from deep. The rest of his game, though, has been lackluster: He commits far too many turnovers (2.7 per 36) commensurate to his level of free throw attempts (3.8 per 36) and assists (2.6 per 36), and anything closer than 23 feet has been disastrous, with Brown shooting worse than 39 percent on two-point attempts.

Meanwhile, rookie two-guard Marcus Thornton has provided a nice spark off the bench, and does everything but shoot the three-pointer more efficiently than Brown. Despite interim coach Jeff Bower's work to boost youth playing time, Thornton is still only averaging 18 minutes per game -- fewer, in fact, in December (17) than in November (19). If Thornton is as good as Brown in most facets of the game, younger (by eight years) and more important to the team's future, there's no reason to play Brown than him. This trade gives Bower and assistant Tim Floyd one less reason to keep Thornton off the floor, though considering they make the rotational decisions, they should be able to come to this conclusion without trading the other guy. But I digress.

The Hornets have a long road back to the playoff seeds, and barring catastrophic injury in another city it really looks as if New Orleans will be the team on the outside this season. (The team is currently in 12th place in the West. Twelfth. That's the nice way of saying "fourth worst.") As such, there is absolutely no reason to rue this deal in N.O. It's the right move, for today and tomorrow.

Minnesota, on the other hand, actually will get something out of Brown, if only because that team's shooting guard rotation is horrific. (Look at the team's production by position. Mon dieu! Never thought we'd long for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, did we Minneapolis?)