But think big anyway, based on one assumption: The Hornets are going to sign free-agent guard Jannero Pargo, which is going to alleviate the need to find a backup for Chris Paul in the draft. They're going to sign Pargo because they want him back, he wants to return and the mutual attraction they publicly won't acknowledge is being expressed through the goo-goo eyes they're exchanging.

So if North Carolina power forward Tyler Hansbrough is on the board, the Hornets will take him off.

Or maybe they'll turn to one of two Pittsburgh players, power forward DeJuan Blair or small forward Sam Young, if Hansbrough is gone (and though Scott wouldn't provide specifics, the guess is he was talking about Hansbrough when he said the guy he likes will be gone by 21).

Or maybe they'll have to settle for the next-best power forward or small forward on their list.

But there'd be no surprise from here if New Orleans ignores a backcourt player and jumps at the chance to add support in the frontcourt, especially for power forward David West, who can't possibly continue playing the kind of minutes he played last season while the Hornets gave a chance to every reserve big man on the roster to be West's regular backup.

"We don't feel we have to go in any one direction," said Bower, echoing the sentiment of every NBA team except the Clippers, who announced their intention to draft Blake Griffin as soon as they won the lottery.

"Yeah, there is (a big man in the draft that the Hornets believe can help next season)," Bower said. "We know who that is. We don't know if he'll be available."

Said Scott: "What we do know, is we're going to get a very good player at 21."

Judging by the way the Hornets closed out last season, they'll get a player who'll make the roster and should make a contribution. If they're lucky enough to get Hansbrough, the impact will be immediate.

On what should we base that assumption? On this: He'll play hard every second of every minute he's on the court and of all the words that have been spoken in conjunction with the name Hilton Armstrong, the Hornets' former first-round pick and backup big man who has burned through more lives than a cat, those words never, ever have been said.

Armstrong, who has the physical tools to be a beast, instead seems to float in and out of Basketball consciousness.

Now, that doesn't mean that the personal preference has altered. The belief here is LSU shooting guard Marcus Thornton should be the pick regardless of whether Pargo comes back to the Hornets after a year in Russia, because Thornton fits into the category of a guy that simply appears to know how to play. And there's something to be said for picking a guy who doesn't require a protracted development, who's ready to play and contribute right now.

But if Pargo rejoining the Hornets is little more than a formality, New Orleans logically could believe it'd be better off with the addition of Hansbrough, whom witnesses claim has a better all-around game than he had to show at North Carolina, or Blair, who's a bruiser but also is a medical risk, or Young, whose game might be as mature as anyone's in the draft.

If the backcourt-depth concern is going to be alleviated by Pargo -- and though smallish, he's a combo guard who can spell Paul or play alongside Paul -- then it'd make sense for New Orleans to try to plug the hole(s) they have in the post or to try to get some help at small forward.

The guess is that they're thinking big, and that big won't be bad for a team that could use that kind of help, and more.

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John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.