Charles Lee and LaMelo Ball laud Damion Baugh's surprising impact

Following his dream debut, success at the NBA level has been hard to come by for Damion Baugh. In his first two games as a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Baugh scored 16 and 14 points respectively while making 11 of his 15 attempts from the field. His spark plug scoring off of Charles Lee's bench was a godsend for one of the league's most moribund units.

However, Baugh's efficient scoring touch dried up quickly. Once teams got film on the former TCU Horned Frog and were prepared for his hiccup-quick first step, Baugh began to struggle. In his following three contests after his hot start, Charlotte's reserve playmaker only made four of his next 29 attempts from the field.

Charles Lee often references "winning basketball." He's desperate for his players to impact winning by doing things other than scoring, and Baugh did just that on Monday night with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors were in town, nothing a career-high six assists and competing on defense for 28 solid minutes. Lee was asked about his impact following the 119-101 loss.

Lee: 'You feel his impact on both ends of the floor'

"Just competitive joy. He plays the game with such bounce and pop, and you know, he carries a basketball around with him all of the time. He's just a guy that loves the game and you feel his energy, you feel his impact on both ends of the floor. He's willing to guard anybody. He's got a fearlessness to him and a strong demeanor that I think really resonates with his teammates and the coaching staff."

"Loving everything that's he's giving our group especially in such a short window when he hasn't had a ton of time from a practice standpoint or just a chemistry standpoint in getting reps with these guys. He's fit in really well as a person and a player."

LaMelo Ball was asked about Baugh as well, and he had praise for the young buck cutting his teeth in the league.

Ball: 'I think he's nice'

"Yeah I like DB. He plays real aggressive, he's always in the passing lanes, he plays defense real hard. Even on offense, I know the shot wasn't really dropping, but I believe he can shoot. I think he's nice."

As the Hornets continue their decade-long rebuild, unearthing diamonds in the rough is key in their pursuit of bringing a consistent winner to Charlotte. Jeff Peterson and his staff have done a solid job at identifying talent on margins (ie: Josh Okogie and Moussa Diabate), and early returns show that Damion Baugh could be the next key contributor that the Hornets have acquired off the scrap heap.

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