Charlotte Hornets: Trade for Courtney Lee
The Charlotte Hornets made a move to shore up their perimeter defense by acquiring Courtney Lee from the Grizzlies.
The Charlotte Hornets made one move yesterday by trading for Courtney Lee in a three team deal involving the Memphis Grizzlies and the Miami Heat. Lee represents the very kind of player that the Hornets were looking for, a defender who possesses some three point range. He will help fill the gap left by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s injury.
Other than being a three and D guy that the Hornets coveted, Lee also is an expiring contract so there is no long term commitment to the thirty year old guard out of Western Kentucky. This means that he would not be in the way of a return by Kidd-Gilchrist to his starting spot in the future.
However, Lee’s impending free agency makes the off season slightly more exciting since the Hornets were already looking at a fair amount of the roster being free agents.
Lee has averaged ten points a game in around twenty-seven minutes per game action. He is shooting 38% from outside the arc.
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He didn’t come free. In the deal, the Hornets sent second year man P.J. Hairston to Memphis and guard Brian Roberts to Miami. Memphis offers an interesting opportunity for Hairston if Vince Carter can mentor the young guard. Memphis also acquired center Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen from the Heat. According to reports from Zach Harper of CBS Sports, there are also some second rounders changing places in the deal.
For the Hornets to get Lee was huge. The losses are acceptable. The Hornets never quite figured out the Hairston experiment and Roberts’ minutes disappeared the moment that Jeremy Lin arrived on the roster. Roberts was one of the smaller expiring deals on the Hornets roster.
Next: Beat Indiana, Lose Kidd-Gilchrist
If this were to be the only move the Hornets make then they have plugged a potential hole in the dike. This should keep them afloat in the playoff race. When Al Jefferson returns, hopefully he can give the team a lift in rebounding.
However there is more chatter that the Hornets are looking to make a bigger move and had engaged the Houston Rockets on the availability of Dwight Howard. There is still about a day left for anything to happen.