On Wednesday night, the Charlotte Hornets took a halftime lead over the Detroit Pistons before benching Naz Reid, the primary return in the LaMelo Ball trade. They ended up losing by eight.

Charles Lee and staff said they made the decision not to put Reid back on the floor for the second half, and it wasn't injury-related.

Lee said, "Unfortunately, Naz [Reid] didn't meet our standards in the first half, and at halftime we made the decision that he wouldn't play in the second half. But I look forward to him meeting those standards come next game."

That is essentially the entirety of it. Lee didn't expound, and Reid hasn't commented. That is likely all we're going to know about it, too. The Hornets aren't exactly a loose-lipped organization right now.

We can all speculate and wonder why the Hornets did this or what standard Lee is referring to, especially since Reid had a pretty good first half. Seven points and six rebounds in 13 minutes is a pretty solid start to the game, especially against the Pistons.

Did that cost the Hornets a win? It's plausible, since Reid played the first half, when the Hornets took a seven-point lead into the break. The Pistons flipped the script en route to an eight-point win after that.

The simple answer is that when Reid played, the Hornets took the lead. Without him, they blew it. Basketball isn't simple, though. For one thing, Reid was -4 in the first half, so he wasn't exactly responsible for the lead.

The Pistons are also a really good team. It's a little silly to assume the Hornets would've held a seven-point lead, which can be erased in a matter of seconds, over last year's number-one seed in the East.

This year's Hornets are just not that good. The underlying metrics behind their 3-2 start are pretty bad on offense. To assume they would've won a contest in which they held a decent lead is foolish. No lead is safe in the NBA.

Would Reid have helped? Undoubtedly. But he's not an infallible superstar, and he would not have guaranteed a win.

There has been plenty of discourse around Lee's decision. Some have questioned why Reid, who played decently well in his minutes, was accused of not meeting the standard, while Sion James (1/6 shooting, -11 on the night) and others got to continue playing.

It should go without saying that the "standard" Lee is referring to is not on-court production necessarily. It seems pretty clear, without hearing from Lee or Reid, that he didn't live up to some standard as it pertains to coaching, attitude, effort, or something else.

It did hurt the Hornets, but it's a far more complicated situation than it seems, and it's silly to assume the Hornets would've beaten the Pistons in Detroit with Reid playing in the second half.