Life is about to get good for Lance Stephenson…just not as good as we thought.
The Indiana Pacers have been awful. Seriously, they’re bad. A stumbling, bumbling mess of absolute crap on the offensive end. They trail the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks 2-1 in their first-round playoff series, Paul George is rapidly becoming one of the most hot-and-cold and overrated superstars out there and I’m pretty sure Roy Hibbert forgot how to play basketball.
Stephenson, to his credit, has been solid on the court. His playoff numbers are comparable to his regular-season averages and by the Pacers’ current standards, he’s been effing incredible, so he’s still do for a major raise when he enters free agency this summer.
Like, really big.
How big?
Well, less now than he was before, according to Sporting News’ Sean Deveney:
On the floor, his numbers have not been terrible — he finished with averages of 13.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists, his pre-All-Star stats almost the same as his post-All-Star stats — and he is still in the enviable position of being a talented, dynamic, 23-year-old guard who is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
But his bank account figures to feel the strain that comes from the downgrading of his reputation in the wake of the Pacers’ inglorious stumble to the finish line of the NBA season.
One league executive said the problems that have arisen—the public ones, remember, not the behind-the-scenes ones—with Stephenson will cut deep into his value on the free-agent market, and that a deal worth $7 million-$8 million per year is more likely to be Stephenson’s range now.
“You hear things, for sure,” one general manager told Sporting News this week. “Stephenson is a guy who has talent, but if you have a young team and you’re building up a culture, you have to consider that before you pursue a guy who might affect your locker room negatively. You have to do your due diligence.
“But that sort of thing is going to affect the market for him, for sure. If a guy has issues, you better know about them and you think twice about going after him.”
Welp.
Although $7 or $8 million is still a lot of money—more than seven or eight times what he’s making now—it pales in comparison to what he seemed headed for a few months ago. We were talking about him as potential All-Star in February. The way he was playing, he was going to command $10 million easy. Upwards of $11 or 12 million wasn’t out of the question either. So, yes, this is huge.
But it’s not surprising.
Stephenson has been making headlines for the wrong reasons of late. Most recently, there was the scuffle or fist fight—depending who you believe—between him and teammate Evan Turner, who is also playing for his next contract. He’s been blamed for much of the Pacers’ offensive struggles as well, the thinking being that he’s playing selfish basketball as he approaches free agency.
It doesn’t help that he was considered a wildcard long before now either. Teams were always going to be hesitant to offer him a lucrative contract because of his past. Some of the flack he was and is taking remains insane, most of which pertains to his on-court demeanor.
The dude shows emotion. He gets excited. Plays with fire. He’s sometimes pompous. Always fighting, always grinding. Deal with it. Appreciate it. Lance Stephenson the player is good and still evolving.
Lance Stephenson the man, well, we’re still waiting to find out who he really is there. And while we’ll know for sure one day, it appears character uncertainty will cost him big in the interim.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
