The newest member of the Charlotte Hornets, Courtney Lee, will have a huge role for the team going forward that will surely impact their playoff hopes.

The Charlotte Hornets have recently acquired shooting guard, Courtney Lee, from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three team trade that sent P.J. Hairston and two second round picks to the Grizzlies and Brian Roberts to the Miami Heat. Lee will have some big shoes to fill for the rest of the season.

The Hornets made this trade because of their need for a wing player since star small forward, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn right labrum in his shoulder. Lee will likely be asked to fill in for MKG in the team’s starting line-up going forward.

That spot and responsibility fell on P.J. Hairston at the beginning of the year when MKG missed the first 46 games of the season but the team wasn’t comfortable relying on PJ for the rest of the year. Rightly so as Hairston was only averaging 6.0 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game in 19.5 minutes per game.

Hairston was having a solid year by all means and especially defensively as he was asked to guard the oppositions best player but his best wasn’t enough for the Charlotte Hornets to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. That is why the team felt the need to make a deal for Lee.

The thirty year old, Courtney Lee, is currently averaging 10.0 points per game 2.3 rebounds per game, 1.5 assists per game, and 1.0 steals per game so far this season in 29.2 minutes per game. He is also shooting a respectable 45.8% from the field and 37% from the three-point line this year.

Lee also has a 102.8 defensive rating this season which is just over four points better than Hairston’s so far this year. Courtney will be asked to take the responsibilities that they team formally gave to MKG as their primary perimeter defender.

Lee is an above average wing defender and can guard players at the shooting guard and small forward positions respectively. He also has the ability to knock down outside shots which Kidd-Gilchrist struggles with.

Courtney Lee has proven over the course of his career that he could be a good three-and-D player on playoff caliber teams. He even played one season under Charlotte Hornets’ head coach, Steve Clifford, in the 2008-2009 NBA season for the Orlando Magic.

If Lee can play the primary perimeter defender role and spot up three-point shooter role well enough for the rest of the season, the Charlotte Hornets will have a good chance at making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference which is ultimately their goal as a franchise. Courtney’s impact on the team could be huge.

He could be a vital part of the team’s success and the Charlotte Hornets are relying on him to prove that he can be an important piece for them going forward. Their playoff hopes could rest on his shoulders as he replaces MKG in the starting line-up and will likely assume a big chunk of minutes.

The Charlotte Hornets’ playoff hopes won’t rest solely on Courtney Lee but he will be a key player for the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see if he can thrive in his new role for the team and perform at a high level. The team would likely look to re-sign him at the end of the season.