Jeremy Lamb Deserves a Spot in the Starting Line-up with the Charlotte Hornets

Jeremy Lamb got his first action for the Charlotte Hornets this season against the Atlanta Hawks in the team’s second game of the season. He had missed the previous two weeks with an ankle injury but he was finally healthy enough to play.

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Lamb came off of the bench for the team and gave them some quality minutes. He ended the night with 11 points, two blocked shots, and two rebounds on 4-8 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from three in only 14 minutes of play. While Lamb did not have a very impressive preseason, his first game for his new team has already won me and many fans over that he deserves more playing time with this team. Whether those minutes come from him being a starter or more minutes off of the bench for the Charlotte Hornets, he deserves more time.

Here is a short highlight video of just what Jeremy Lamb was capable of against the Hawks and also what he can do going forward for the team.

Jeremy Lamb was seen as a player that would come off of the bench for the Charlotte Hornets when they first got him because of his shooting and offensive ability but with the injury to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the preseason, it has opened up a spot for a player to take his place in the team’s starting line-up.

Charlotte Hornets’ head coach, Steve Clifford, has given the starting nod to P.J. Hairston in the team’s first two regular season games. This is mainly because Lamb was out with an ankle injury for a week before the season opener and was not available for the game but P.J. had been practicing with the first unit and playing with them in preseason games so Clifford gave the starting job to him. But now that Lamb is back and is already playing at a high level and Hairston is in poor form to start the season, it is time to make a change.

In the first two games of the season for the Charlotte Hornets, P.J. Hairston has had two disappointing outings. He finished with similar lines inn both games. In the first game, he scored three points on 1-5 shooting from the floor and 1-4 from three in 18 minutes of play. In the second game, he scored three points on 1-5 shooting from the floor and 1-4 from three in 17 minutes of play.

Jeremy Lamb’s 14 minutes of play in his Charlotte Hornets’ debut was better than P.J. in the first two games.

Lamb has made his case for getting the starting shooting guard/small forward spot that P.J. Hairston currently has for the team. Lamb has looked better on both ends of the floor so far this season.

I understand that in the game against the Hawks that Clifford did not pull Hairston from the game because that would just kill his confidence going forward so it would be better if he switched up the rotation after the game and not in the middle of one. Maybe Hairston is better with that starters than Lamb is. Hairston may have more length and be able to play the small forward spot with the starters and Clifford may want Lamb to come off of the bench to play alongside Jeremy Lin and get more shots with the second unit than he would with the first. But either way one thing is for sure, Jeremy Lamb needs and deserves more minutes on this Charlotte Hornets’ team.

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He is in a contract year and in my opinion has more upside for the future with the team than Hairston does. Lamb’s shooting ability, length, and athleticism is too good for him to be underutilized by not giving him enough minutes. Like I said, whether it be in the starting line-up or off of the bench, Jeremy Lamb deserves more minutes for this team. This is not a one game overreaction but merely my opinion that I have compiled over time of watching Hairston and Lamb. I think most would agree that Lamb deserves more minutes than Hairston does right now for the Charlotte Hornets. I would expect a change to come in the team’s rotation sooner rather than later.

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