Where the Charlotte Hornets Should Trade Lance Stephenson

The Hornets should trade Lance Stephenson to the Cleveland Cavaliers

By Kevin McElroy (@knickerbacker)

Trade Package: Lance Stephenson for Dion Waiters, Mike Miller, and James Jones

Pros for Hornets: They flip the expensive Stephenson for a promising scorer who would create an intriguing backcourt pairing with Kemba Walker.  Waiters is a year younger and $5 million cheaper and while he’s been at the center of some of his own drama, it’s several large steps down from some of the issues that have swirled around Stephenson.  Still on his rookie deal and an RFA in 2016-17, Waiters would be controllable by the Hornets for years to come if they so desire; on the other hand, if they decide they’re priced out, they can hit the reset button a whole lot faster than with Stephenson.  A potentially productive change of scenery for Waiters, who becomes one of the leaders of a young team trying to make a name for itself rather than the squeaky fourth wheel on the Cleveland tricycle.

Cons for Hornets:  Waiters is not nearly the all-around talent that Stephenson is, but few are and none of those guys are available to Charlotte right now.  This makes the Hornets worse on paper and strikes another blow against their already-disappointing defense.  But it gets them some cap room next year and turns an untenable situation into something of value.

Pros for Cavs: At his best, Lance Stephenson is as good a fit for the Cavs as any wing player in the league.  He’s only a year older than Waiters and locked into his deal for 2 years beyond this one (the Cavs would have a really tough call on how high to bid for the RFA Waiters in 2 years; exercising a $9M team option a for 26-year-old Stephenson in the summer of 2016 is a no-brainre if he gets his head back on straight).  His prime should line up well with Love’s and Irving’s so you’re not only adding an ideal 4th option and lockdown defender for now, you’re bringing in a guy who can take the load off of LeBron when he starts to show signs of age and could be effective for Cleveland on the wing well into the next decade.  He and LeBron could wreak perimeter defensive havoc on the order of what Wade and LeBron did in the early Miami years.

In short: you add a borderline DPOY talent with a jump shot to a team trying to win now but hampered by the league’s 20th best defense.  It’s a no-brainer, except that…

Cons for Cavs: …Lance Stephenson is CRAZY.  And so the question becomes: will the other big talents in Cleveland (especially LeBron) keep him in line, or will throwing Stephenson in the middle of a team that has really begun to jell throw things off irrevocably?  To me, this is all about whether you think the Cavs can win a title as presently constituted.  I don’t.  Whoever comes out of the West is going to be able to score with Cleveland and they’re going to defend a whole lot better.  I don’t think Dion Waiters makes or breaks a title for the Cavaliers at any point in his career; I think Lance Stephenson could.  And if it doesn’t work, you flip him next year when his looming team option will allow team’s to view him as an expiring contract.

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