Should the Charlotte Hornets Move on from P.J. Hairston?

Charlotte Hornets second-year shooting guard P.J. Hairston has quickly become one of the league's biggest enigmas during his brief NBA tenure.

He supposedly has prolific shooting ability, but he doesn't know when to launch versus when to holster. He can impact the game in so many different ways, but he hasn't shown the decision-making skills to do so.

Worst of all, his potential is through the roof, but his boneheaded off-court decisions could make it so he never realizes any of it. Charlotte badly needs a dynamic shooting guard, and Hairston has all the tools to be that guy.

The question is, have the negatives outweighed the positives enough to warrant Hairston's release?

Issues Off the Court

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For the third consecutive offseason, Hairston is in trouble with the law after being cited June 18 for driving with a revoked license, among other infractions. That's not exactly the kind of growth you'd like to see out of a 22-year-old following such a disastrous season both on and off the court.

At the University of North Carolina, he was cited for driving 93 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone. He was kicked out of the program for his supposed involvement with rental cars linked to a convicted felon. In 2013, a routine traffic stop turned into an arrest for Hairston that involved a seized firearm and marijuana. Last summer, he was charged with misdemeanor assault during a pickup game.

Maybe he should just buy a bicycle.

All charges for both incidents were dismissed, but where there's smoke, there's fire. The eternal optimist would suggest that all these off-court problems are signs of immaturity that will be outgrown. Hairston didn't do anything that cannot be rectified. That doesn't mean all is forgiven, but he can certainly move past these problems.

On the other hand, Hairston could be one strike away from having all his problems define his career forever. It's likely that the severity, or lack thereof, when it comes to his legal troubles is exactly what's keeping him in uniform.

He still has a few summer months left. The kid is on thin ice.

Ineffectiveness on the Court

Michael Perez/Associated Press

To say Hairston had an abysmal rookie year would be putting it mildly. It doesn't get much worse than a 32.3 percent field-goal percentage with nothing else to offer in terms of peripherals.

The No. 26 pick overall in last year's draft showed little outside of the occasional outburst from three-point range. Hairston packed a slight punch in the rebounding department when his confidence was flowing, and presented all the signs of being a threat on the defensive end.

However, his signs were just that and nothing more. He needs a ton of work, and much of it begins between the shoulders. According to Basketball-Reference.com, an unfathomable 17.1 percent of his shot attempts came at the rim last year, as opposed to 60.6 percent beyond the arc.

Even worse, Hairston converted just 34.8 percent at the rim. Another nugget is that 14.7 percent of his three-point attempts came from the corners, but he hit 41.7 percent of those.

The icing on the cake? He didn't dunk the ball a single time all season despite being 6'5", with a 6'9" wingspan and a 37-inch vertical leap.

Hairston's problem is all mental. Part of it could be that the coaching staff isn't putting him in the right position to succeed, but Hairston simply has to let the game come to him. He took all the wrong shots from all the wrong spots on the floor as a rookie, as the numbers detail. However, that is an extremely correctable issue.

The Big Picture

The Hornets acquired Nicolas Batum from the Portland Trail Blazers, sent Luke Ridnour to what seems like his 47th team this offseason for Jeremy Lamb in a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder and snagged Jeremy Lin off the free-agent market. Troy Daniels is also still in town.

None of these fellows will make life easier on Hairston. There is no easy path to the starting gig or any hefty shooting guard minutes for that matter.

This doesn't mean that Hairston should be cut loose. He is 22 and is the only legitimate option as a long-term shooting guard solution from this crop of players. Batum, Lamb and Daniels are all signed through just 2015-16, and of the four previously mentioned players, only Lamb is a typical shooting guard. None have had any long-term success at the position, so we shouldn't expect that to change.

Looking back, Hairston said all the right things at the NBA draft combine, and most believed him. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer spoke with the David Glenn Show at the time detailing Hairston's supposed growth:

Those words are moot now. What does have value is that all his legal issues are in the past (for now), and there were some positives to be taken from this summer league.

The numbers weren't astounding, as he posted 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds a game, but his on-court demeanor was intriguing. He improved over his stay in Orlando by shooting better and distributing for his teammates. SB Nation's At the Hive blog noted Hairston provided some "on-floor coaching" for his younger teammates:

Tom Sorenson of the Charlotte Observer poses that Hairston has gotten a bit of a slide since he is a hometown kid. He is from Greensboro and attended the heralded University of North Carolina. Do fans overlook the negatives due to the sentimental desire of wanting this Tar Heel to succeed in Charlotte?

The bottom line is what sort of trade value does a 32.3 percent shooter who barely contributes in any other department have? Cutting ties with a first-round pick after one rocky season would be shortsighted for a squad that can't afford to be.

The cost benefit of keeping him on the roster is good. This is a "can't lose" situation. Even if he flounders again, Charlotte is in the same exact boat next offseason.

He may not be able to drive to the rim. He also might not be able to drive a car.

However, this shooting guard can still pack a wallop, and Charlotte should keep rolling the dice on the chance that a simple tweak to his mental game could fix the majority of his problems.

Justin Hussong is a Hornets Featured Columnist and Breaking News Writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @Hussington.