Charlotte Hornets trade for Memphis guard Courtney Lee

The Charlotte Hornets are acquiring shooting guard Courtney Lee from the Memphis Grizzlies in a deal that discards P.J. Hairston, Brian Roberts and two future second-round picks.

Lee is averaging 10 points per game this season and will add to the Hornets’ 3-point shooting. He’s making 37 percent of his shots from outside the 3-point arc this season.

This deal came on the heels of reports that Hornets small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will have season-ending shoulder surgery after suffering a torn labrum for the second time in six months. The Hornets are 27-26 and entered the All-Star break in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They reassemble Wednesday for a mid-afternoon practice and play in Milwaukee Friday – the first of five consecutive road games to finish the month of February.

Lee’s contract – he makes $5.67 million this season – expires in July.

Hairston, whose draft rights were acquired from the Miami Heat in June of 2014, had an uneven 1 1/.2 seasons with the Hornets. The team did not exercise his option for next season on his rookie-scale contract, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in July. He was a fill-in starter for portions of this season after Kidd-Gilchrist originally injured his right shoulder in October.

Roberts was signed as a free agent before the 2014-15 season. He spent this season as a third option at point guard behind Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin.

This trade was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

A source familiar with this trade said Roberts would be moved on to the Miami Heat.

At 6-5 and 200 pounds, Lee has dimensions comparable to Hornets starter Nic Batum. Those two figure to be interchangeable parts at the wing positions the rest of the season.

The primary reason coach Steve Clifford started Hairston was to avoid Batum having to constantly guard the opposing team’s top perimeter scorer.

Lee should be a solid alternative defensively, replacing Hairston in the lineup.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets trade for Memphis guard Courtney Lee."