Charles Lee identifies the qualities Grant Williams brings to the Hornets following preseason debut

A key piece of the Hornets returned to action on Thursday.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Slowly but surely, the Charlotte Hornets are starting to get healthy.

The team saw center Mark Williams (foot) and forwards Cody Martin (wrist) and Grant Williams (hamstring) go down with injuries before or right at the start of training camp and on Thursday night, Grant Williams returned to action.

“It’s nice to have him back out there," Hornets head coach Charles Lee said in his postgame press conference. "Another just really good basketball player, a smart mind, versatile defender. He just brings such great energy and basketball IQ. He has the ability to stretch the floor and make some plays for himself and his teammates. It’s really nice to have him out there.”

Williams had a pretty quiet night in his 15 minutes of floor time finishing with just one point and one assist on 0/2 shooting, each attempt coming from beyond three-point range.

The slow start was to be expected and it's nothing to be concerned about. It's just a good sign for the Hornets to see him back on the floor in the preseason ramping himself up to be ready and conditioned for when the games really matter later this month.

During media day, I asked Coach Lee about the possibility of Williams playing the small ball five like he did so often last season. "We're going to play around with a lot of different things," Lee said. "And because we have such great versatility, I think some guys understand how to be effective in different spots. But right now, just trying to get the bare-bones of having the five man out there and getting comfortable with that first is most important."

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