Kings should sign Lance Stephenson in the offseason

[SacKings2002NBAChampions]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of this kid
He is in his last season of his 1 million dollar contract and he's been one of the most improved players of the year. He's excellent on defense and offense.
His price range would have to be between 6-10 million

Here's why Indiana might not be able to keep him:
They can offer him a max of 8 million dollars which is 2 less that Tyreke Evans makes who is a player of similar stature.
On top of this, if Paul George makes NBA All-team (which he probably will) then he will be awarded and improved +3 million NBA contract. This means, Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 million! Lance would never accept such a contract considering he could get double that. The Kings would have to do something about Rudy Gay, in the future though if we want other positions to be covered well enough. Also, I believe he has the potential to be better than Gay in terms of all around player. He's also not a ball hog and won't ask for too many shots. I think Lance would fit in extremely well into this squad. He's an overall player and wouldn't be too expensive like some other players and is fairly young with a lot of upside.

 

[VF21]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of this kid
He is in his last season of his 1 million dollar contract and he's been one of the most improved players of the year. He's excellent on defense and offense.
His price range would have to be between 6-10 million

Here's why Indiana might not be able to keep him:
They can offer him a max of 8 million dollars which is 2 less that Tyreke Evans makes who is a player of similar stature.
On top of this, if Paul George makes NBA All-team (which he probably will) then he will be awarded and improved +3 million NBA contract. This means, Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 million! Lance would never accept such a contract considering he could get double that. The Kings would have to do something about Rudy Gay, in the future though if we want other positions to be covered well enough. Also, I believe he has the potential to be better than Gay in terms of all around player. He's also not a ball hog and won't ask for too many shots. I think Lance would fit in extremely well into this squad. He's an overall player and wouldn't be too expensive like some other players and is fairly young with a lot of upside.

Indiana is not gonna let him go.

 

[TheBadGuy]

Why would Stephenson choose the Kings over the Pacers?

 

[VF21]

Here's a discussion about him from PacersDigest: http://www.pacersdigest.com/showthr...e-up-to-9-million-as-a-free-agent-this-summer

 

[Kingsfan23]

Haven't watched enough of him but role players look better on contenders

You also need to explain how we'd have the wherewithal to sign him given our financial outlook

 

[fanop]

Our FO is too cheap..or maybe they just had something against Tyreke. He would not fit in with the Kings at all, unless we made MAJOR roster movements. He's listed as a SG, but what it doesn't tell you is that he is a ball dominant SG. He might be playing the wrong position right now, but he reminds me A LOT of Tyreke. No way are they going to pay 8+ million for him. Pacers won't let him go... they will resign him next year. He's been a huge part of their success this season.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of this kid
He is in his last season of his 1 million dollar contract and he's been one of the most improved players of the year. He's excellent on defense and offense.
His price range would have to be between 6-10 million

Here's why Indiana might not be able to keep him:
They can offer him a max of 8 million dollars which is 2 less that Tyreke Evans makes who is a player of similar stature.
On top of this, if Paul George makes NBA All-team (which he probably will) then he will be awarded and improved +3 million NBA contract. This means, Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 million! Lance would never accept such a contract considering he could get double that. The Kings would have to do something about Rudy Gay, in the future though if we want other positions to be covered well enough. Also, I believe he has the potential to be better than Gay in terms of all around player. He's also not a ball hog and won't ask for too many shots. I think Lance would fit in extremely well into this squad. He's an overall player and wouldn't be too expensive like some other players and is fairly young with a lot of upside.

granger is an expiring.. think they might have $$$ under the cap if they don't resign him.

 

[funkykingston]

I don't care how well Stephenson is playing, I hope a guy that does something like this is never a Sacramento King:
http://www.nydailynews.com/lance-stephenson-coney-island-basketball-phenom-slammed-girlfriend-head-stairs-article-1.205685

I already went through that once when the 49ers signed Lawrence Phillips. I suppose it's only fitting that he missed the block on the play that ended Steve Young's career. More salt in the wounds.

I don't like rooting for scumbags.

 

[Dreadnought]

For 6-8 million a year I think Stephenson is a no brainer. Pacers absolutely need him as he's an incredibly vital component of their team, so odds don't look great. I don't see him leaving IND just because Sacramento can pay him an extra 1 or 2 million.

 

[Gilles]

With combo-guard Hill and a bit shaky handles of George strong ball-handling guard is what doctor ordered. Gay and Cousins are working the ball a bit too much for Stephenson to fit even if you replace IT with off-the-ball player.

 

[Hadlowe]

Stephenson and Gay would work if you wanted to take a flyer at running Jimmer at point instead of IT. A hypothetical Jimmer, Stephenson, Gay, Cousins, Embiid lineup would look an awful lot like what the Pacers are doing right now, minus the point guard defense of Hill, but getting some reliable three point shooting in return.

I think you would have to pay 25% over market value to get him, though, and like a lot of people have said above, he may be a hothouse flower and regress outside of Indiana.

 

[Hadlowe]

I don't care how well Stephenson is playing, I hope a guy that does something like this is never a Sacramento King:
http://www.nydailynews.com/lance-stephenson-coney-island-basketball-phenom-slammed-girlfriend-head-stairs-article-1.205685

I already went through that once when the 49ers signed Lawrence Phillips. I suppose it's only fitting that he missed the block on the play that ended Steve Young's career. More salt in the wounds.

I don't like rooting for scumbags.

Didn't know that about him. That's a dick move regardless of his age at the time.

 

[jalfa]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of this kid
He is in his last season of his 1 million dollar contract and he's been one of the most improved players of the year. He's excellent on defense and offense.
His price range would have to be between 6-10 million

Here's why Indiana might not be able to keep him:
They can offer him a max of 8 million dollars which is 2 less that Tyreke Evans makes who is a player of similar stature.
On top of this, if Paul George makes NBA All-team (which he probably will) then he will be awarded and improved +3 million NBA contract. This means, Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 million! Lance would never accept such a contract considering he could get double that. The Kings would have to do something about Rudy Gay, in the future though if we want other positions to be covered well enough. Also, I believe he has the potential to be better than Gay in terms of all around player. He's also not a ball hog and won't ask for too many shots. I think Lance would fit in extremely well into this squad. He's an overall player and wouldn't be too expensive like some other players and is fairly young with a lot of upside.

he waived that clause in his contract, making one of the All-NBA teams won't affect his salary.

 

[Chupacabra]

Id say 8 mil/yr is the absolute max anyone could offer him without looking like a total fool. I wouldnt want anything to do with him for 8 mil/yr. Winning makes everyone look shiny. In Lances case the shininess has everything to do with playing for the Pacers. His selling point is that hes a shooting guard that can play pg for limited stretches.

 

[I~true]

Larry Bird did a great job with him. Think he is a bit overrated but he is a jack of all trades.

 

[bajaden]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of this kid
He is in his last season of his 1 million dollar contract and he's been one of the most improved players of the year. He's excellent on defense and offense.
His price range would have to be between 6-10 million

Here's why Indiana might not be able to keep him:
They can offer him a max of 8 million dollars which is 2 less that Tyreke Evans makes who is a player of similar stature.
On top of this, if Paul George makes NBA All-team (which he probably will) then he will be awarded and improved +3 million NBA contract. This means, Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 million! Lance would never accept such a contract considering he could get double that. The Kings would have to do something about Rudy Gay, in the future though if we want other positions to be covered well enough. Also, I believe he has the potential to be better than Gay in terms of all around player. He's also not a ball hog and won't ask for too many shots. I think Lance would fit in extremely well into this squad. He's an overall player and wouldn't be too expensive like some other players and is fairly young with a lot of upside.

I'm not sure why you think the Pacers would only be able to offer Stephenson 5 mil. He's been with them four years counting this year, so he would fall under the Bird exception and would be eligible for a max salary if they wanted to offer him one. Unless he's been waived and then resigned at some point. I like Stephenson now. He was a real head case at Cincinnatti. But appears to have matured and settled down.

 

[jalfa]

while Stephenson the player is pretty great (the off court stuff is disturbing and I had completely forgotten about it, due to his being completely irrelevant back then), it seems doubtful that the FO would heavily invest in a guy like him. the Kings have already committed a lot of salary to that position and are unlikely to get out of it any time soon. at the same time there's still a massive hole where there's supposed to be a rim protector on the roster and quite a bit of money has to be earmarked or at least kept open for the extensions of Isaiah and Rudy Gay. not that they both HAVE to be resigned, though that's looking like a better idea with each win, but you want to at least put yourself in a position to be able to do that. Stephenson is going to command a LOT of money, not just because of his playing on a good team, but also because of his skill set and the fact that he's actually a UFA at 24, which basically never happens any more (stealing a Lowe point here). lots of teams are going to want that guy and Indiana will have to spend significantly if they want to keep him.