NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls could sign Lance Stephenson over Carmelo Anthony
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Bulls have some work to do in the offseason, but given how well they’ve been playing they may not have to do as much work as we conch thought. Now that the panic has washed away, the Bulls offseason plans don’t seem as pressing as they once did but that doesn’t mean fans and writers aren’t window shopping anyways.
While all of the talk at one point focused on Carmelo Anthony, some have begun shifting back to a player who was popular for an instant before the Melo drama kicked up dust in the Windy City. Indiana Pacers star Lance Stephenson was once considered an option for the Bulls, and now that Phil Jackson appears to have the powers to keep Carmelo in New York, Jon Greenberg is back on the Lance Stephenson train and is handing out free tickets.
"Ideally, it’s Indiana Pacersguard Lance Stephenson. In some ways, he’s a better Plan A, because he could fit in the salary slot vacated by the amnesty of Boozer. Stephenson is a rare find, a future unrestricted free agent at age 23. He doesn’t quite fit the Bulls’ archetypal player profile, and his past legal issues are troubling, but the former Brooklyn prep star would slide in nicely with this team."
This is all assuming the Bulls want to go out and get Stephenson and do the things necessary to make it possible. But the number of things that need to happen for the Bulls to get the Pacers Sixth Man are far less than they were for them to land Melo.
That doesn’t mean he’s a lock to come to Chicago, but fans don’t have to avoid getting excited over the idea of how well it works.