Coming off a season in which his Charlotte Hornets finished with 10 fewer wins than they did the year before, head coach Steve Clifford can't turn a blind eye to any combinations or schemes that could help his team improve in 2015-16.
Despite having a glut of wings at his disposal, Clifford is fascinated by the idea of running a two-point guard backcourt featuring Kemba Walker and the newly signed Jeremy Lin.
"It's always good to have two pick-and-roll players on the floor," Clifford told the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell. "That way you can put pressure on the defense at one side, then switch it to the other. That makes more room to play similar to how Golden State does. You've got Steph (Curry) on one side, so defenses have to load up there, and then you've got Klay Thompson on the other with room to operate.
"That's what Kemba can do for Jeremy and Jeremy can do for Kemba."
The Hornets will likely roll with Nicolas Batum - acquired by the team in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers back in June - at shooting guard to begin the year, keeping Lin as the primary backup to Walker off the bench. That doesn't mean Clifford won't utilize a Walker-Lin combination more often than he will Walker-Batum, though.
Having two ball-handlers playing alongside each other should help Charlotte's offense - which ranked 28th in 2014-15 - run a lot smoother. Although Walker and Lin bear the labels of score-first point guards, they have proven in the past that they have what it takes to run a team efficiently, while keeping turnovers to a minimum.
Lin, 27, signed for Charlotte's bi-annual exception ($4.3 million over the next two years) this offseason. He averaged 11.2 points and 4.6 assists on 42.4 percent shooting in his lone campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Walker is entering his fifth year with the Hornets after being selected ninth overall in 2011. The Connecticut alumnus missed 20 games last year with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
