Pelicans Sign Lance Stephenson

SEPTEMBER 14th: The signing is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 9th: The Pelicans have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement were not relayed, but with New Orleans over the salary cap, it is likely for the league minimum.

New Orleans already has 15 fully guaranteed deals on the books, so Stephenson will need to impress the coaching staff if he hopes to remain on the roster through opening night. While he is certainly a talented player, his immaturity has derailed what was once a promising career. He’ll need to prove that he can gel with the other players in the locker room, and not just on the hardwood. The Pelicans’ roster situation is made more complicated because of Jrue Holiday, who is slated to miss an “indefinite” period of time during the regular season to take care of his wife and newborn child.

Stephenson, 26, appeared in a combined 69 games in 2015/16 split between the Clippers and Grizzlies. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in  19.9 minutes per outing. His slash line was .481/.385/.784.