It was not unanimous in the Charlotte front office, the decision to bring in Lance Stephenson to the Hornets last season. He had played well in Indiana, but there were concerns about his fit in Charlotte, both on the court and in the locker room. The side that thought he could be one of the stars they needed won out. Charlotte signed him at a very reasonable three years, $27 million.
It didn’t work out. To put it kindly. He shot 36.7 percent (17 percent from three), his playmaking skills seemed to go away, when he did drive the lane he didn’t finish well, and his PER of 8.8 is what you expect of a D-League player.
Stephenson is trying to show last season was a one-off aberration. He will come off the Clippers bench this season and Doc Rivers has bet on him. As for his time in Charlotte, he said this to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register.
Lance on being cast as a star in CHA "“I was just sitting in the corner. That’s not trying to be a star. A star normally gets the ball."
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 12, 2015
Okay. But with the Clippers, Stephenson is going to have to adjust to working off the ball as well — Jamal Crawford will spend time as a playmaker with the second unit, plus Stephenson likely will get some time next to CP3, and they are not taking the ball out of his hands.
Stephenson will get some time as a playmaker, but the offense is not going to run through him. He’s also g0ing to have to show his outside shot is back because until he does other teams will sag off him and Josh Smith and dare them to beat them with jumpers. The Clipper bench certainly has more talent this season, but we will see if they can play as a unit.
And if Stephenson should do more than stand in the corner.