Lance Stephenson hung on to snag the Pelicans‘ final regular season roster spot, beating out Alonzo Gee, despite the fact that Gee had a fully guaranteed pact. Stephenson says his aim this season is to rebuild his reputation around the league, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”My goal is to prove everybody wrong this year – work hard and show a different side of me,” Stephenson said. “Everybody got this expectation of me, I just want to show them a different side of me. I love the game, I just want to play ball. I can show that what I was doing for the Pacers, I can still do it. I just got to have an opportunity to be put in a position where I can do that.”
Stephenson also noted that he’s made a determined effort to get to know his Pelicans teammates and bond with them, something he hasn’t always done in the past, Reid adds. ”Teams that I’ve been on, I really didn’t [talk] to my teammates, I talked to them a little bit but,” Stephenson said. ”But this time, I was really, ‘Hi are you doing to today, what you do yesterday’ and stuff like that. It’s like being a rookie again, everybody got this image of me that’s a straight lie.”
Here’s more from out West:
- The Suns were trying to trade Archie Goodwin, who was waived on Monday, but when they were unable to find a taker, the team was forced to release him in order to pare its roster down for the regular season, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports.
- JaVale McGee is overjoyed at landing the 15th and final roster spot on the Warriors to start the regular season, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com relays. “I’m just happy, blessed, to have this chance,” McGee told Poole. “I’m starting to figure out what the coaches want from me, and I’m starting to execute it. Everything is going well.”
- The Clippers are still trying to fill their void at small forward, which has been a weak spot on the team for the past few seasons, Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times writes. Luc Mbah a Moute, Wesley Johnson and Alan Anderson are all competing for the starting job, but none of them has heard much from coach Doc Rivers about who will get the bulk of the minutes at the position, Turner adds.