Jeremy Lin (Photo : Getty Images)
Jeremy Lin's minutes could be in danger once Courtney Lee becomes familiar with the Charlotte Hornets' playbook.
The Hornets sent PJ Hairston to Memphis and Brian Roberts to the Miami Heat for Lee, adding in playoff experience to Charlotte, who are looking well in securing their spot at the postseason with a 29-16 record at seventh place in the East.
But there were concerns of Lin getting a decreased role in Charlotte after the deal went through, with Lee offering slightly more than what Lin has.
Lin has been arguably playing the best game of his career in Charlotte, averaging 12.0 points and 3.2 assists per game, while playing 26.9 minutes off the bench. However, Lin has only been shooting 41.3 percent from the field, including 31.8 percent from downtown, a career-low since his rookie year with the Golden State Warriors.
His defense certainly makes up for his up and down offense, but according to an interesting insight by Sportige, Lin has to start making shots or risk losing some of his minutes to Lee, who is poised for a key role with the Hornets once familiarized with the team's system.
"Clifford knows Lin is important, but prefers other players for whatever reason. Lin has to force him into keeping his minutes higher than 25 per game, but that won't happen when he's shooting below 40% from the field," the report added.
Lee only averaged 9.9 points with the Grizzlies while playing 29 minutes on the court. But 30-year-old guard has been more efficient in shooting the ball from the field at 45.9 percent and 37.4 from down town.
Lee, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, also offers more versatile defense than Lin because of his height advantage on guards and a match in guarding the small forward spot. Lee is not much of a facilitator, although he also has a knack of sharing the ball like what he did with the Grizzlies.
Another worth noting is the turnover ratio of Lee and Lin. The Charlotte Observer's Frank Franklin II noted that coach Steve Clifford has been insistent that the team cannot afford high turnovers, which affects the Hornets' chances of winning road games.
"Coach Steve Clifford always stresses the Hornets can't afford high turnovers, but that seems to affect winning and losing dramatically more on the road. Entering Sunday their record was 9-3 when they commit more turnovers at home, compared to 2-9 in that instance on the road," Franklin II wrote.
Lee has a slight advantage at that department, having only recorded 1.0 turnovers per game for the Grizzlies over Lin's 1.9.
Lee made his debut in the Hornets' 104-96 over the lowly Brooklyn Nets. He only scored five points as he struggled to read Charlotte's flow of offense, but shot 50 percent from the floor.
Lin, on the other hand, got a solid 31 minutes off the bench, with 11 points and five rebounds. However, it was another bad-shooting night for the Harvard graduate, who only made three of his 10 shots and was 0 out of 1 from beyond the arc.
Whether Lin would continue to play more minutes remains to be seen, but Steve Clifford certainly wants to see Lee in his lineup, which could potentially put Lin in another familiar situation.
