Pursuing Lance Stephenson this off-season

[elcheato]

I think he's an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it'll be interesting to see what the Pacers are willing to offer. Pending what happens to Waiters, I think he needs a serious look when the Cavs scrap this LeBron dream. What kind of offer seems fair?

I think the Cavs could land him too if they were serious about it and he tests the market. He's looking for his first big money deal

 

[billmac91]

I think he's an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it'll be interesting to see what the Pacers are willing to offer. Pending what happens to Waiters, I think he needs a serious look when the Cavs scrap this LeBron dream. What kind of offer seems fair?

I think the Cavs could land him too if they were serious about it and he tests the market. He's looking for his first big money deal

I'd be concerned about Lance outside of Indiana. I think his current set-up fits him perfectly. If he goes to a team without an "alpha" at close to max money, I see his game taking a huge turn for the worst. He already gets a little self-inflated at times and chucks a bad shot once in a while, but you can live with it because of the defense and other intangibles. I'm not sure I want him coming to Cleveland thinking he needs to resurrect the franchise. He'd try and do too much.

Honestly, if I'm Lance's agent, it's one of the rare times I'd tell my client to take a hometown discount. Stay with the current set-up and keep developing in the Pacer organization. He can test free agency in another 3-4 years if he wants too. He should also have played in a finals or two at that point as well assuming the Pacers maintain their current trajectory.

 

[Simon]

I'd love Stephenson on this team. He'd be a perfect on this team.

 

[elcheato]

I'd be concerned about Lance outside of Indiana. I think his current set-up fits him perfectly. If he goes to a team without an "alpha" at close to max money, I see his game taking a huge turn for the worst. He already gets a little self-inflated at times and chucks a bad shot once in a while, but you can live with it because of the defense and other intangibles. I'm not sure I want him coming to Cleveland thinking he needs to resurrect the franchise. He'd try and do too much.

Honestly, if I'm Lance's agent, it's one of the rare times I'd tell my client to take a hometown discount. Stay with the current set-up and keep developing in the Pacer organization. He can test free agency in another 3-4 years if he wants too. He should also have played in a finals or two at that point as well assuming the Pacers maintain their current trajectory.

I think an expanded role could bring out even more of Stephenson. He's got such a great all-around game, has improved every year. His 3 point percentage has steadily fallen off this year, but he's still an improved and capable shooter. One thing that gives me pause is his ability, or seemingly lack thereof, of getting to the free throw line. I truly believe he has all-star potential in him.

 

[Plaxicofan7]

Would be good for us, but there really would not be much room for a 4th guard in the rotation with Irving/Stephenson/Waiters expected to take up almost all of the minutes. Do we want to spend 8-10mil/yr on him? That is the big question.

 

[CardiacCavs]

Would be good for us, but there really would not be much room for a 4th guard in the rotation with Irving/Stephenson/Waiters expected to take up almost all of the minutes. Do we want to spend 8-10mil/yr on him? That is the big question.

My fear is that he will get more than that. As long as we have dion/Delly/Karasev, lance stephenson does not really have a place on this team.

 

[Plaxicofan7]

My fear is that he will get more than that. As long as we have dion/Delly/Karasev, lance stephenson does not really have a place on this team.

You could be right. The market for him is around 7-9mil/yr, but we will have to overpay to get him more likely than not.

Getting Stephenson would be cool because we could put out a KI/LS, KI/DW, DW/LS duo with all of them being effective. But I agree, cannot see him having a place on the team, not with what we have already.

 

[gratefuldead]

I hope he stays in Indiana

 

[Kizzle]

I'd be concerned about Lance outside of Indiana. I think his current set-up fits him perfectly. If he goes to a team without an "alpha" at close to max money, I see his game taking a huge turn for the worst. He already gets a little self-inflated at times and chucks a bad shot once in a while, but you can live with it because of the defense and other intangibles. I'm not sure I want him coming to Cleveland thinking he needs to resurrect the franchise. He'd try and do too much.

Honestly, if I'm Lance's agent, it's one of the rare times I'd tell my client to take a hometown discount. Stay with the current set-up and keep developing in the Pacer organization. He can test free agency in another 3-4 years if he wants too. He should also have played in a finals or two at that point as well assuming the Pacers maintain their current trajectory.

Idk man lol


If I'm ANYBODYs agent and I'm making commission off their deal.....I'm sending so many signs to my guy that his ONLY option is to take the big money NOW.

 

[Walter White]

I think Stephenson would be a disaster on this team. He is able to fit in Indiana because he is on a good team that can cover his mistakes. Plus he will be vastly overpaid if he hits the open market. I think its a terrible idea. Especially while we still have Dion.

 

[gourimoko]

Idk man lol


If I'm ANYBODYs agent and I'm making commission off their deal.....I'm sending so many signs to my guy that his ONLY option is to take the big money NOW.

If I'm someone's agent, I would almost never advise them to take substantially less money. It's not in their financial interest. Lance Stephenson is not, and never will be the face of the Pacers. If he can get big money and more touches on another team, it's advantageous for him, financially at least, to move to another team.

If the Pacers truly valued him, they would pay him what he's worth. Teams should not expect massive discounts from player, and fans shouldn't hold players to such an unrealistic standard.

 

[billmac91]

If I'm someone's agent, I would almost never advise them to take substantially less money. It's not in their financial interest. Lance Stephenson is not, and never will be the face of the Pacers. If he can get big money and more touches on another team, it's advantageous for him, financially at least, to move to another team.

If the Pacers truly valued him, they would pay him what he's worth. Teams should not expect massive discounts from player, and fans shouldn't hold players to such an unrealistic standard.

Lance Stephenson isn't your typical player, and I think people are missing that point. This is a guy who strangled his girlfriend and likely wouldn't have been drafted if not for the Pacers vetting him out. The guy is the all time leading scorer in New York High School basketball history and his best offer at the end of the day was Cincinnati because no major players were willing to take the risk. He was cut from the under 18 US mens national team for "chemistry issues" even though he was seen as one of the best players in his class. He was charged with sexual assault in high school. He was charged with throwing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs before being drafted. The guy is not mentally stable, yet Indiana has kept him on the straight and narrow.

While Lance is not and never will be the face of the Pacers, the Pacers have given him a stable environment and allowed him to grow in to who he is today. That should carry a lot of weight as Lance looks at offers in the off-season. If Indiana makes an honest effort to make it work with him going forward, even at a discount to teams with huge amounts of salary cap, he'd be very wise to consider staying in the environment that has kept him out of jail and in the position he is today.

And again, Lance can sign a deal that allows him to be a free agent in 3-4 years. I think those 3-4 years of maturity are huge for him which is why if I'm his agent, I really like the idea of keeping him in the Pacer organization. The end game would be ideal here. Signing him to a max deal this off-season and putting him in a likely combustible, unstable, potentially toxic environment could prevent the next big pay-day. I'm pushing lessor dollars but the stable environment all day long.

 

[kovanovich]

Before the season started, he's a guy I sort of had on my radar because I thought he might be undervalued. But he and his team have played so well that I doubt that will be the case anymore. It's always hard to predict what type of offer FAs will get, but I imagine some team will offer him $10M per year, and he will likely have several options.

Plus, Indy now basically runs their offense through him and allows George Hill to play off the ball. So he's not exactly the ideal guy to pair with Irving.

Oh, and if you go after Stephenson, the idea would be to trade Waiters. Needless to say, if you are investing in Stephenson, plus giving Irving as max, not to mention Jack and his contract, you aren't going to keep Waiters around too. Anyway, it's all a moot point now.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Lance Stephenson isn't your typical player, and I think people are missing that point. This is a guy who strangled his girlfriend and likely wouldn't have been drafted if not for the Pacers vetting him out. The guy is the all time leading scorer in New York High School basketball history and his best offer at the end of the day was Cincinnati because no major players were willing to take the risk. He was cut from the under 18 US mens national team for "chemistry issues" even though he was seen as one of the best players in his class. He was charged with sexual assault in high school. He was charged with throwing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs before being drafted. The guy is not mentally stable, yet Indiana has kept him on the straight and narrow.

While Lance is not and never will be the face of the Pacers, the Pacers have given him a stable environment and allowed him to grow in to who he is today. That should carry a lot of weight as Lance looks at offers in the off-season. If Indiana makes an honest effort to make it work with him going forward, even at a discount to teams with huge amounts of salary cap, he'd be very wise to consider staying in the environment that has kept him out of jail and in the position he is today.

And again, Lance can sign a deal that allows him to be a free agent in 3-4 years. I think those 3-4 years of maturity are huge for him which is why if I'm his agent, I really like the idea of keeping him in the Pacer organization. The end game would be ideal here. Signing him to a max deal this off-season and putting him in a likely combustible, unstable, potentially toxic environment could prevent the next big pay-day. I'm pushing lessor dollars but the stable environment all day long.

Great post billmac. I'm against bringing him in, redundant head-case that's most likely to be overpaid on this upcoming contract.

 

[oasis05]

I'd pay Stephenson before I'd pay miles and waiters. I think you've gotta get bigger and this could weaken the competition. I'd say Lance is a bigger priority then Varejao. You can find some defensive bigs on the cheap. Not many starting guards that good defensively in the league.

He also comes from a winning team. Brown has changed his shooting guard multiple times so the 2 guard is the biggest hole on the team and there's a means to fix that this off season.