"The thing that I’ve been the happiest is how efficient he’s been and poised and patient with everything," Paul said. "What goes forgotten a lot of times is that he played in three Final Fours, so there is not too much that’s going to rattle him."

The Hornets were high on Collison when they selected him with the 21st pick in the 2009 draft after he played four years at UCLA, but they also didn’t expect him to contribute this much so soon.