Indiana Pacers ‘made a grave mistake’ with Lance Stephenson

Early in the offseason, the Indiana Pacers reportedly offered then free agent guard Lance Stephenson a five-year, $44 million deal. Stephenson wound up turning the deal down and signing a three-year, $27 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets.

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The Pacers will certainly miss Stephenson and Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders believes the Pacers “made a grave mistake” in negotiations with Stephenson.

"The Indiana Pacers made a grave mistake when negotiating with Lance Stephenson. Rather than throwing their best offer out immediately and saying take it or leave it, they should have let him explore the process a bit, see what the market is like and then come with an offer. Perhaps then he would have been more inclined to accept and not felt disrespected by their unwillingness to negotiate. As they endure this grueling season without Paul George and watch Stephenson thrive with a rising contender in the Eastern Conference in the Charlotte Hornets, they’ll likely regret how they handled his free agency. As constructed, this is a team that should strongly consider blowing it up. Their post players are aging, their one elite talent is out for the year and the playoffs are virtually out of the question. They’d be better off with a high draft pick to pair with Paul George moving forward. Look for this team to be active at the trade deadline if they struggle as badly as they’re projected to."

Although he is certainly a headache and a bit of a distraction on and off of the court

Stephenson averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game this season while shooting 49.1% from the field, 35.2% from beyond the arc and 71.1% from the charity stripe in the regular season. In the postseason, he put up 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He shot 45.5% from the field, 35.8% from downtown and 71.4% from the free throw line. In his four-year career, he has averaged 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 46.7% from the field, 32.5% from three and 71.1% from the free throw line.

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