How Will Jeremy Lin Fit With the Charlotte Hornets?

Jeremy Lin is the newest member of the Charlotte Hornets after inking his 2 year-$4 mil+ deal with the team on the first day that free agents could officially sign their agreed upon deals contracts.

The Hornets might have gotten a steal with this pick up of Lin. Especially for the price. This is essentially a low risk-high reward deal for Charlotte. At an annual salary of just over 2 mil, this deal is an excellent contract and basically a steal for the Hornets to get a player of Lin’s talent for so cheap.

But the real question for many Charlotte fans is how will Jeremy Lin fit with the Hornets?

My answer and opinion to that is that he will fit in very well with the team.

Many critics may look back on last season and say that Lin had a down year and struggled for the Lakers but I believe that he played pretty good considering the circumstances of the team. Jeremy averaged 11.2 points per game and 4.6 assists last season with the Los Angeles Laker who underutilized Lin’s offensive talents by forcing him to play in such a horrible fit of an offense that was Byron Scott‘s system. Scott’s system discouraged pick and roll play which Lin does an above average job at with his speed and agility to get past defenders and finish at the rim. He is also a good enough passer to find big men cutting to the basket.

Byron’s system also discouraged the three ball so the team could not utilize Lin’s speed on the court in the transition game. They also did not have many spot up shooters on the floor for Lin to pass to. The Hornets have added many shooters this off-season to help with their lack of outside shooting like Nic Batum.

In addition, the system the Lakers ran was not transition friendly. With links speed to go coast-to-coast and always playing at a high level he could blow by many players in the league. He should be able to get many fast break opportunities with the team and the players around him could also run the floor and finish at the rim off of his passes.

Now that Lin is with the Charlotte Hornets and he will be running their system, they will be able to use him to his fullest potential. In the NBA, a player can succeed or fail based on the system that they are in and if it fits their style.

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Lin will most likely be the back-up point guard for the team and likely be their sixth man. Lin might also play alongside Kemba Walker in games and run as the teams shooting guard in some stretches. Lin will provide needed scorning off the bench for the team and although Lin does have some downfalls defensively, I don’t think he is as bad as most people seem to believe. With head coach, Steve Clifford’s defensive minded system and how solid the Hornets defense has been these past few years. If Lin has a lot of defensive struggles then the team’s defense should be able to cover those up based on their previous stints under coach Clifford.

The Hornets have ben in desperate need of scoring and outside shooting these past few years because their offense has been nowhere close to their defense. They have made additions this offseason to improve their offensive game such as adding Nicolas Batum, Spencer Hawes, Jeremy Lamb, and Frank Kaminsky. Jeremy Lin was also an addition to help bolster the teams offense and he should do just that.

As I said before, Lin is a strong pick and roll ball handler that can finish at the rim with speed and agility, while also being able to pass the ball effectively. He should get any opportunities with the second group for pick and roll and pick and pop plays with Frank Kaminsky and Spencer Hawes.

In my opinion, if all goes according to plan, Jeremy Lin should flourish with the Charlotte Hornets next season because of his offensive ability, speed, agility, and finishing at the rim. Lin should be a reliable scoring option coming off the bench and be able to run with the starters as well.