NBA Rumors: Lance Stephenson wants to re-sign with Pacers
By Bryan Rose
The Indiana Pacers haven’t exactly been kind to swingman Lance Stephenson in the days since the Miami Heat ended their season in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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Yes, president of basketball operations Larry Bird was quick to point out he wants Stephenson to return to the team next season, but made a very concerned effort to express his frustration and disappointment with the antics of the free agent to be.
Still, all of the grief Stephenson has dealt with hasn’t changed his opinion of the Pacers franchise, who he wants to re-sign with, this according to his agent.
“They are a quality organization from the top down,” Alberto Ebanks told SNY. “We are going to try to get a deal done. The communication has been there for the last four years with the Pacers and it has been beneficial for the Pacers and for Lance. I hope we can come to terms.”
It’s hard to tell what, if anything Stephenson’s antics did to his potential free agent market. It certainly probably freaked a few general managers out, though, enough to reduce his asking price or to limit teams who were to be interested in him? Considering the type of personalities we’ve seen NBA GM’s take risks on, Stephenson probably didn’t scare many.
Indiana has been more than open about their desire to re-sign Stephenson all season and they haven’t really changed their stance, despite the recent tongue lashings, so it appears they’ll do what they can to keep him in Indianapolis moving forward – a place where Stephenson seems happy to stay.