Headed to his seventh team in five years, new Laker Lance Stephenson is hoping he can land a long-term contract next summer, relays Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Stephenson expected a longer stay in Indiana after appearing in all 82 games last season. However, after teammate Thaddeus Young opted in to a $13.7MM deal and Doug McDermott was added in free agency, the Pacers elected to decline their $4.3MM option on Stephenson. He wound up signing a one-year, $4.5MM deal with L.A.
“I’m definitely looking for a long-term contract after this,” Stephenson said. “I’m trying to find a home. I’ve been moving a lot and to different teams. I’m trying to find a place where I can actually call home and feel comfortable, and actually get a nice place and stay there for a while.”
There’s more this morning from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns contacted free agent forward Trevor Ariza in the first minute of free agency, he says in a video interview tweeted by the team. The former Rocket agreed to change teams after receiving a one-year, $15MM offer from Phoenix. “Sometimes things run their course and it’s time for a new start and new beginning,” Ariza explained. “There were a lot of options for me, but the one that … showed the most promise was this one. I’m excited to be here. I’m happy to be here. It’s closer to home [in Los Angeles] for me.”
- The new two-year, $12MM contract for Montrezl Harrell leaves the Clippers about $500K below the tax line, but sets up a difficult roster decision, Bobby Marks posts on ESPN Now. Re-signing Harrell gives L.A. 16 guaranteed contracts, along with non-guaranteed deals for Patrick Beverley ($5,027,028) and C.J. Williams ($1,378,242). Neither becomes fully guaranteed until January 10.
- The Kings finalized a three-year, $20.5MM contract with Nemanja Bjelica on Saturday, but not an expected deal with Yogi Ferrell, notes salary cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link). He speculates that Sacramento could be examining its options with $14MM in remaining cap space and may use the room mid-level exception to sign Ferrell to a two-year, $6.2MM deal at a later date.
Realistically Lance will probably be last in the Lakers guard rotation. Zo and Rondo will get the majority of minutes at point, and LeBron will have the ball in his hands majority of the time anyhow. At SG KCP and Hart are better options as 3 and D guys. Forward is stacked with Bron, Ingram, Kuzma and even Beaseley offering options. His best hope is a small defensive lineup. I love him as depth if he’s willing to accept that role
Agree. I like Lance as a player and in the right role he can be extremely effective. I wonder if Lance would reconsider signing no after seeing who else the Lakers added. Not a lot of room for minutes at SF but should have the best chance at SG behind KCP. I think Lance can beat out Hart there.
If Hart continues to shoot around 40% from three, only lockdown all-nba level defense will get him in the lineup over Hart
Exactly. Hart can score but would you rather have a defender that can guard multiple positions or a 4th option on offense. Lance makes more sense around the other score first options.
Take Hart and his summer league with a grain of salt yes he shot nearly 40% from 3 but only averaged 1.2 makes a game attempting 3.1 last year. Averaging 7.9 ppg, that is not exactly lighting it up
It depends on his minutes. Your numbers reflect a backup status, which Hart is more likely than Lance to outgrow.
Hart can shoot….lance is too streaky. Did u see hart in summer league? They got lance to play D….be a disruptor on defense….be physical against steph curry
Lance is there for transition and defense. He wont run with Rondo and Ball much so Hart will be at point when Lance is at SG in the second unit likely. Their line-up is so mix and match it will be interesting how Walton handles it.
What didn’t make sense about signing Stephenson is with LeBron dominating the ball, you want your off ball guys to be able to hit threes like Korver, Frye, and Irving did when they were with the Cavs. Lance has been one of the worst 3 point shooters in the NBA. Lance played good defense on LeBron, but LeBron scored 51 on him.
Shooters who also makes plays and defends well are very expensive, and in CLE it proved that 4 shooters around James doesn’t work against GSW, as James has to make all the plays himself, and the defense is atrocious. Now Lakers are going for defense and playmaking instead of pure shooting, which has already failed.
LeBron was as bad as everyone else when it came to defense. James made plays because he was bringing the ball up, dribbling around, then if he couldn’t find his shot, he’d pass it. That’s why everyone stood around. Look at LeBron’s numbers against the Pacers. He had a game of 28, played one half in game 6, and scored 40 or better the rest of the series (against Bogdonavich and Stephenson). Beasley isn’t known for defense. McGhee wanted to be paid like a starter. He’s not.
The jury is still out on Rondo. Like it or not, the Lakers have character issues. The Lakers got these guys because nobody else wanted them, except maybe Rondo.
LeBron was ranked well into the bottom half the league in defense. Check out Lance’s numbers against LeBron. I wouldn’t call it good defense. His shooting was so bad, he’d celebrate like the NFL guys when he got a layup. He played hard, that’s about it. I’ve never heard anyone refer to McGhee as a playmaker.
Clippers don’t need Beverley having Teodosic, specially for 5MM/year
I actually agree. Huge Patrick Beverly fan, but they have Avery Bradley and Sindarius Thornwell capable of defending at those positions, as well as the young guys, in a packed guard rotation. Woth Beverly coming off the injury, it might make sense to let him get a chance to play somewhere else…If the Cliplers do waive his non guaranteed money, Phoenix should be on that
Still confused by the Ferrell move with Sacramento, but maybe they have some sort of trade lined up for a wing, using 1-2 of their guards and/or bigs
Tough, likable player. Definite trade candidate. Pretty much everyone is on that team. Clips probably waiting to move him to a contender that needs a cheap veteran pg.
Everyone a trade candidate* Minus newly drafted guys
If he blows in the right ear drums, he can get his long term deal.