Charlotte Hornets Round Table Discussion: Potential Moves
3. Is it time for Charlotte to trade Jeremy Lamb?
Jerry Stephens: I think it is time if the right trade comes to Rich Cho and company. I still believe that Jeremy Lamb can be a quality player for the Hornets as he was able to show his potential at the beginning of last season. He could play alongside Ramon Sessions and Marco Belinelli with the second unit but if the team could package Lamb with Spencer Hawes for a big time player, then they should definitely let him go. But they shouldn’t just be looking to trade him and move on. He is a young, athletic player who is on a team friendly contract.
Luke Spencer: This is a wait-and-see type proposition. As of right now, if the Hornets can get a decent return for Lamb then they should pull the trigger. However, I am curious to see if Lamb can become a regular contributor for the team this year. He is a long and rangy athlete with a pretty shooting stroke. The reason Lamb fell out of the line-up later in the season was because he had a bad habit of getting lost on defense and surprisingly losing his touch on offense and being ineffective.
It seems that most of Lamb’s problems revolve around him making mental mistakes during the game and falling out of Coach Clifford’s favor. Hopefully after a full year with the Hornets, he will be more comfortable in the system and be a regular contributor. The coaching staff is aware of his talents and tools, but this is most definitely his make-or-break season after four years in the NBA. He must assert himself with the minutes he gets this season, or he will most definitely be gone come February.
Max Seng: I want Lamb to work this season, I really do. He’d fill so many of the holes Charlotte has with Lee and Lin’s departures. His career has not been unlike Jeff Green’s, being the centerpiece of major piece in a couple of deals based on his potential, not his production. Sadly, we’ve only seen flashes but not sustained success of the ability he showed back at UConn and with the Thunder. I say keep him through the first half of the season, and if nothing’s changed come February, ship him off at the deadline.
Deshawn White: Everybody knows I’m a Jeremy Lamb fan, but realistically I know he underperformed the last half of the season. But I still wouldn’t send him off yet. He has two more years and he’s still pretty young. With an offseason of training, getting stronger and staying healthy, he could be a great role player. But I’ll admit that he has to show improvement.
Max Teddy: I think so. Lamb’s minutes decreased sharply at the end of last season. If it wasn’t due to injury, it seems to me that he is having trouble finding his role on the team. Sometimes it’s even easy to forget that Lamb is on the Hornets because his role on the court isn’t defined very well. I think if we can find a true small forward to complement Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, we’ll be pretty much set.
Laieke Abebe: I’ve been a fan of Jeremy Lamb since his college days at Connecticut. The former 12th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft needed to find a home after OKC let him go and that home for the last season has been Charlotte. He had an excellent start to the season averaging 13.3 PPG on a blistering 58.6% shooting clip before January 1st. After the New Year began, he averaged only 6.7 PPG on 42.2% shooting. Jeremy Lamb is capable of being a quality scorer in the NBA.
The man is only 24-years old, so youth is on his side right now. I’d want to keep Lamb, but if he doesn’t start the season well, he could be traded. I mentioned earlier that he could be a part of a trade package with Spencer Hawes to free up cap space so if he isn’t performing well, the Hornets could free up cap space by trading them both. If Lamb performs well consistently, then I’d love to keep him. His extension kicks in this year so this could be an interesting situation for the Hornets.
Next: Change to the Starting Line-up?