Jeremy Lamb has played 23 minutes through two games for Charlotte, shot 8-of-19 overall and 4-of-9 from three, and they are about to lock him down at $7 million a year.
Welcome to the new NBA salary cap world.
Lamb could not make it work for three years in Oklahoma City, but Charlotte is willing to bet on his potential, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.
According to ESPN sources, Hornets and Lamb are closing in on a three-year extension in the $21 million range
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 2, 2015
This is about value. The Hornets need shooting, Lamb is athletic and with potential, and in a world where $7 million will be the cost of an average NBA bench player, the Hornets see some value. He’s going to get more run with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist out. If the Hornets think he could have a good enough season to command more on the open market next summer (when television money floods the market), they are smart to lock him up now.
Lamb is still a bit of a project, particularly defensively (to put it kindly), but while the number seems high this is a reasonable roll of the dice.