Charlotte Hornets GM Rich Cho Officially Signs Jeremy Lin to Contract

The Hornets signed free agent guard Jeremy Lin on July 9, 2015. The following is the transcript from General Manager Rich Cho’s conference call with the media after Lin’s signing.

Cho opening statement:

We’re really excited to add Jeremy to our team. He gives us a different dimension to our point guard spot. He has experience in the league. He’s a good ball-handler. We’re really excited to add him to our lineup.

On what makes him different as a point guard:

One thing he can really do is get into the paint. I think with our second unit that’s important because he can create shots for others. We’ve got several guys in our second unit that will benefit from that whether it’s Jeremy Lamb or Spencer Hawes, Frank Kaminsky, Marvin Williams, all those guys will benefit from a guy who can get in the lane and create shots for others.

On the importance of getting this deal done on the first day of free agency:

It was important. We’ve been looking to get more depth in our backcourt and we feel really good about deciding to do this. I think he’s going to bring some energy to our backcourt and our second unit. He’ll be a great addition.

On if there is any concern that by getting better offensively, the Hornets might be sacrificing defensively:

One thing that Coach Clifford and our coaching staff do a great job of is getting our team to play great team defense, and coach has always had good defensive teams. He’ll get these guys to play good defense. We’ve made an effort to upgrade the offense and there’s probably always going to be a little bit of tradeoff, but I’m confident that our coaching staff will get our guys to play good defense still.

On if the Hornets are done in free agency now:

There’s still potential to do something else. We’re still looking at a couple of things. We’re not entirely done yet.

On what part of Lin’s game he thinks will improve the most under Coach Clifford:

I think a couple of things: one, I think his defense will improve because Coach Clifford is a defensive-oriented coach who has had a lot of success with his team in the past defensively. Coach has also worked with a lot of really good point guards in the past, like Steve Nash, so I think that background with coach on the defensive end and offensive end will help Jeremy.

On if he expects to wait for the market to settle down before jumping back into free agency:

We’re still looking around right now and we aren’t going to wait a long time. I think if the opportunity presented itself then we’ll do something.

via GM Rich Cho Transcript on Jeremy Lin Signing | Charlotte Hornets.