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.