What happens in the beginning of the NBA season always seems to leave a larger indentation in our minds than the happenings of the middle portion, much of which has to do with a sudden rush of data points to overanalyze after a few months without basketball. It’s a fantastic time to weigh the small sample size and judge whether the results show some predictive relevance or merely represent a hot streak in an otherwise bleak season.

Players of all calibers are operating either above or below their heads. But the interesting thick of players—to me, at least—are those on the cusp of becoming tangibly good NBA contributors,  netting positive value as solid rotation players or key members of starting units. These are the swing pieces who can determine if a team is able to make the playoffs.

Jeremy Lamb is the perfect example of such a team-altering piece for the Charlotte Hornets. His leap forward has stabilized a starting unit that craves multiple ball-handlers, as well as a second unit that needs a consistent scoring option.

But can it continue?

Lamb was selected in the 12th overall slot of the 2012 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets, though he was almost immediately shipped out to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the blockbuster James Harden trade. There were moments during his Thunder tenure where things looked promising. The makings of an automatic sniper were present, but they came in waves. Those OKC teams weren’t truly conducive to getting players’ feet wet; struggles couldn’t be accepted on a team with championship aspirations.

With Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler (yep, that Kyle Singler) looking to get paid during the summer of 2015, the Thunder were faced with a dilemma. Lamb was entering his fourth year—his last on his rookie-scale contract. Before having to face a summer of decisions much larger than a backup wing with upside, the Thunder shipped him out to Charlotte to escape luxury-tax trouble.

His role grew, and so did his play. The improvements in his game were apparent, yet marginal. The sharpshooter from the University of Connecticut was only hitting 30.9 percent of his threes, and the shooting-starved Hornets couldn’t afford that. On top of everything, Lamb was called out for his poor play during the playoff portion of that 2015-16 season.

Clifford said Jeremy Lamb hasn't played as much over the past month because of "readiness" issues. Says outright that he hasn't played well.

— Justin Verrier (@JustinVerrier) April 23, 2016

That type of inconsistency defined his career. The trust level never reached a point where coaches could rely on him, and even when the advanced numbers showed a larger role was needed, he never necessarily got it.

But that brings us to the summer of 2017—a time where differences were made, and Lamb was able to strike a chord in his coaches to trust him. Everything centered on his hard work and dedication to his craft, to not only jack up his endurance, but also add some weight.  Per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:

Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford puts a major emphasis on one-on-one work with the players throughout the NBA offseason.

By that measure, Clifford says guard-forward Jeremy Lamb has applied himself this summer as much as any Hornet.

‘I’m really excited about what he’s done and where he’s at,’ Clifford told the Observer of Lamb, who will enter his third NBA season with the Hornets when training camp opens at Spectrum Center Sept. 26.

The results have been revealed, as Lamb is easily playing the best basketball of his career. 

But first, he needed an opportunity to showcase those efforts and use his added skills. That chance came on October 5 when Nicolas Batum suffered a torn ligament in his elbow and was forced out of action for the next eight-to-12 weeks. It’s a rerun of a story you’ve seen so many times before: Player X gets hurt, Player Y gets his chance to play and Player Y excels in extended minutes.

But how has Player Y—sorry, I mean Jeremy Lamb—become the player we’ve always wanted him to be?

The most obvious, and intriguing, category to tackle is the shooting.

For years, Lamb has been referred to as a plus three-point shooter by the general fan, but a couple of problems with that designation remained. For one, he wasn’t hitting triples at a strong percentage (32.4 percent). Secondly, he wasn’t taking many attempts.

Lamb has swept those issues under the rug and juiced up his efficiency to a sizzling 45.7 percent on 3.8 attempts per game. The initial thoughts pounding through your head should ring, “regression, regression, regression.” And that is likely. He’s making the same number of corner threes, and he hasn’t dramatically changed much about his shot distribution from deep:

He’s still spotting up for the most part, and that’s where he’s likely to have the most success. His profile doesn’t suggest he’ll ever get the handle or quickness to utilize pull-ups on a highly efficient basis.

Lamb has been a tad more reliant on using catch-and-shoot looks than in years past, and that should only help buoy his numbers. But so far, he’s become Stephen Curry in warmups on those spot-up attempts, and that hot start will eventually regress heavily. Fortunately, he’s also struggled mightily on pull-up attempts, so he should be able to counteract some of that plummeting.

Ultimately, the math suggests the totality of his improvements is an aberration. Below-average three-point shooters just don’t sustain league-leading marks for an entire season. He truly is, however, a better marksman. 

And this is where the misconception of Lamb works in his favor. Even if his percentage shifts back to a bit above his career norm, he is so efficient in other parts of his game that he should be able to remain a valuable player for the Hornets.

Lamb is an elite mid-range shooter and has been for a couple of years now. He has taken that efficiency to another level this season, as he’s hitting 53 percent of his shots in the relevant zone, ranking in the 93rd percentile of wings, according to Cleaning the Glass. That number is ridiculous when you take into consideration that he’s doing it at such a high rate. He is on pace to take over 1,100 mid-range shots this season, which ranks in the 97th percentile at his position.

Other than having a feathery touch, the two biggest advantages Lamb has working for him are his added strength and a 7’0″ wingspan that helps him shoot over the outstretched arms of defenders. Look at him take on Danny Green on a drive to his left:

He’s able to body him off with his shoulder, and that separation is enough for him to rise up and drop in the bucket.

Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was able to get by Jimmy Butler, then push a floater right over the fingertips of Karl-Anthony Towns, who tried contesting the shot.

This is a perfect demonstration of what makes Lamb so intriguing. He has enough quickness to beat certain wings, and he’s long enough to drop these kinds of shots over big men.

The mid-range and driving game will continue to be his bread and butter for the foreseeable future. And even if he does shoot a couple notches below this blazing pace, he’ll be able to pick it up in other areas. One such spot would be at the rim, where he’s currently ranked in the 2nd percentile after hitting just eight of his 25 attempts there on the season. Considering he’s shot 64.6 percent on those attempts coming into this year, it’s fair to assume he’s due for a bit of a bounce-back.

A couple weeks into the season, the overall changes had already made an impression on Clifford.

“He’s a much better all-around player,” the head coach told Bonnell. “He’s scoring every night efficiently. And he can pass. In all the preseason scrimmages, he was our leading assist guy.”

That passing has been incredibly valuable to the squad in the early going. Michael-Carter Williams missed the early part of the season, and Batum’s presence as a secondary playmaker left a giant hole to be filled. Lamb has done so admirably, more than doubling his assist average from 1.2 to 3.2 per game. His assist rate is also up over 6 percent from last year, and he’s up to nearly six potential dimes per game.

Growing into that distributing role makes the most sense when explaining this sudden jump. A maturation in the way he needed to play, combined with a glaring team need, has resulted in more concerted effort—and kudos to him for making it happen. Countless times, coaches and management will pinpoint areas to focus on, and those recommendations will either not translate to games or won’t be worked on enough to implement in a competitive atmosphere.

Lamb has been an exception, and the selfless attitude has changed the team for the better when he plays. 

The number fans really care about is 13.2. That happens to be the Hornets’ net rating when Lamb is on the floor versus when he’s off it, and it’s easily the highest differential of his career. What jumps out is the glaring offensive improvement—Charlotte scores an additional 14.4 points per 100 possessions with this wing playing—while also avoiding a corresponding defensive collapse. 

Lamb owns some of the tools that would make him an attractive defensive option, but he hasn’t flashed the consistency needed throughout the entirety of a season. His length gives him a huge advantage in contesting shots, where he currently ranks 25th among guards with 6.2 per game. The combination of his wingspan and improved motor gives him enough to be a positive on that side of the floor.

One area in which Lamb continues to excel is on the defensive glass. He’s ranked in the 89th percentile among wings with a defensive rebounding percentage of 15.2 and hasn’t fallen below the 90th percentile for an entire season since 2013-14. Combine that spot, where he should continue to excel, with his work before shots go up, and his value grows more obvious.

Luck is a driving force between tier levels reached in the NBA.

Draymond Green once got an opportunity only because David Lee was forced to miss time with an injury. He’s now one of the faces of the best team in the NBA. Even if Lamb’s story won’t reflect a rise as large as that one, it still can lead to a more prominently featured role. He’s getting the chance, and he’s finally ready to seize it. 

As mentioned previously, some of his numbers will fall. But it’s pretty clear he’s turned a page, allowing him to become a piece the league has been waiting for. 

The piece that can get the Hornets into the playoffs.

Follow Thomas on Twitter @Trende19.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from NBA Math, Basketball Reference or NBA.com and are current heading into games on Nov. 12.