Mark Williams’ status for rest of Hornets’ season is murky. Kai Jones is ready to step in

Dennis Smith Jr. was barely a step outside of the 3-point line, racing upcourt on a fastbreak when he made eye contact with the Charlotte Hornets’ blue-haired high riser.

All it took was that brief moment for Kai Jones to be cleared for liftoff. The bouncy big man caught an alley-oop from Smith and flushed it home with ease, showing his trademark hops.

Jones’ freakish natural gifts should be on display more over the season’s final month, a byproduct of another Hornets injury. With Mark Williams sidelined for the third straight game with a thumb injury and his status for the rest of the season murky, Jones is going to be peeling his warmups off much more frequently, just as he did in Tuesday night’s 120-104 loss to Cleveland at Spectrum Center.

“It’s important for me because I get to show everybody what I’m capable of and what I believe I’m capable of in making the most of this opportunity,” Jones said. “So, it’s important to me.”

The increased playing time for Jones bears monitoring over these next few weeks because there’s not much clarity otherwise regarding the status of Charlotte’s rookie starting center. Williams sprained his right thumb in the Hornets’ win in Detroit last week and there is no definitive timetable for his return.

Williams is relegated to spectator status in the meantime, sitting on the bench in street clothes unable to help.

“It’s just going to be kind of watching and waiting to see how he feels,” coach Steve Clifford said. “I don’t think we really have a great idea how long it’ll be as of right now.”

There’s a pretty significant downside to Williams’ absence: he’s losing valuable playing experience that could only help him gain more confidence heading into his first offseason as a pro. He was in pretty good form before going down, recording double-doubles in four of his last seven games prior to getting injured.

But now, Williams is missing out on treasured time on the court.

“You want to have a chance to evaluate some of these guys,” Clifford said, “so for him, I think playing some of these games would’ve been great. But the last thing you want to do is bring him back (too early). He needs to have a great summer. So, the biggest thing is just that he gets healthy and we don’t take any chances with it.”

That’s where Jones enters the picture. His usage rate should increase and the 15:57 he logged against Cleveland represented the second-most minutes he’s played in his past nine games.

“He is really going to be able to get out there and spread his wings,” Kelly Oubre said, “be able to make his mistakes and not worry about coming out the game. But this is a great time for him to really just get his feet wet and acclimate himself (with) the league, and figure out what he needs to work on this summer to be effective.

“Everybody can get in the gym and do between-the-legs crossovers and shoot a million 3-pointers. But he’s going to really figure out what he does and he can perfect what he brings into the NBA game.”

Jones has had a few flashes with the Hornets (22-49) this season, leaving an indicator or two about his effectiveness in small bursts. Although it’s a microscopic sample size and a larger overview is a necessity to truly gauge his influence on the action in the 9.3 minutes per game he averages, Jones helps the Hornets out in a few areas.

Heading into their second matchup with the Cavaliers in as many days, with Jones on the court the Hornets’ offensive rebound percentage increased by 3.8, they allowed 5.3 points less per 100 possessions and the opponent field-goal percentage dips by 9.2, according to Cleaning the Glass.

The Bahamian is slowly figuring out how to harness the athleticism he picked up in the gene pool from his mother Kasprintina Ellis, who ran track, and his father Deyvon Jones — a former basketball player in his own right.

It keyed him in tying his career high with three blocks against Utah on Saturday night.

“Just being me,” said Jones, who posted four points, five rebounds, a block and a steal against the Cavaliers. “Impact the game with my length and my speed, get to balls faster, block shots, dunk the ball. So, that helps with that.”

His time motoring up and down I-85 didn’t hurt either. Jones has played in 14 games for the Hornets’ G League affiliate this season, averaging 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, two blocks, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals with the Greensboro Swarm.

Those outings allowed Jones to gain confidence and be better prepared when he’s inserted into the action, and the idea to shuffle back-and-forth between the Swarm and Charlotte was partially a brainchild of Mitch Kupchak, the Hornets’ GM and president of basketball operations.

“That’s why I got those reps in the G League, just to help me grow into the player that I’m supposed to be,” Jones said. “That was important for me, too. That’s what the G League was for, just to make sure I’m sharper so (when) my name gets called up here I’m ready to go.”

Some may consider the G League as a demotion or view it negatively. Not Jones.

“It’s super important to me,” Jones said. “I took those games serious, just to practice winning and practice those details so when I come back up I’m sharp.”

Jones’ next phase involves becoming more of an inside-out threat, something that can’t fully happen until he sharpens his jump shot. Refining his stroke from deep will open things up and allow him to further add to an evolving offensive arsenal.

And he knows it.

“For sure,” Jones said, “playing the ‘4’ more and the ‘3,’ that’s necessary to space everybody out. It’s going to help me in my individual game so I can attack closeouts. But yeah, that’s something I work on every day.”