Can Lance Stephenson Return to the Indiana Pacers?

When Lance Stephenson left the Indiana Pacers for the Charlotte Hornets, it was supposed to be for greener cornfields. Sure, he left some money on the table, but the newly renamed Hornets had a good offseason and soon became a trendy choice to finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference, especially once a certain superstar from Indianapolis blew up his leg.

Things haven’t gone that way, though — not for Lance nor Charlotte as a team. Until Kemba Walker’s game-winner against the New York Knicks the other night, the Hornets had lost 10 games in a row and now sit at 5-15, thanks in no small part to Stephenson’s quicksand-slow start.

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He has been so disappointing, in fact, that according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, Charlotte’s front office has been calling other teams with vigor regarding potential trades based around Born Ready, saying “few would be surprised if the Hornets make and take calls on Lance Stephenson ahead of [December 15].” The 15th is the first day that NBA teams are allowed to trade newly signed free-agent players from the summer.

Obviously, given Lance and the Pacers’ history, trade speculation has already ramped up to 100, but before getting to that, let’s look at Stephenson’s start in Charlotte.

Lance hasn’t singlehandedly caused the Hornets’ struggles by any means, but he hasn’t solved any of their largest issues, namely offensive firepower. As the weakside shooter/slasher option next to Walker, he has struggled to make quick decisions in a new offense and has become Ball Stoppington, caught between pulling the trigger or driving to the hoop, so he too often just dribbles to nowhere or clangs a jumper. Despite still averaging more than 5 assists per game, Lance is shooting just 17% from three, 34% on long twos, and 38% overall. Those are no-can-do numbers from a guy who’s supposed to be the secondary playmaker.

Lowe also mentioned how Lance’s body language has been “horrible,” with him “flapping his wings and looking skyward as if his teammates have wronged him” and pointing out that Lance steals rebounds and gets flashy with the ball.

The Ghost of Lance Stephenson will not leave the Pacers alone, despite Roy Hibbert’s protests.

Cue the this-is-my-shocked-face reactions from Pacers fans. They came to expect these types of antics from Lance, but that stuff looks even worse right now given the losing context. Lance has never been a sharpshooter, logging just one league-average 3-point season in four years with Indiana, and his penchant to over-dribble and steal rebounds is also not news. While he has started to find his footing in the last couple games, those who paid attention to the Pacers’ slide last year understand how difficult Stephenson can be to play with, so it’s not surprising to see such a headstrong player struggling with adjustments to a new system.

The nature of his early struggles are also unsurprising to many Indiana faithful, as they align with what many feared might happen when Stephenson left a familiar environment to be more of an off-ball threat with another ball-dominant guard. His bigger problem is that he’s come in out of shape, which hasn’t allowed him to get out in transition as much or compete as hard on defense. He is a better two-way option than anyone else Charlotte has on the wing, but he is still not an ideally skilled guy to have playing alongside a shoot-first point guard.

In that sense, it’s not totally surprising to hear that Charlotte is taking calls on Stephenson so early in the season. It is surprising, however, given that coach Steve Clifford and teammate Walker have both recently praised his attitude in spite of his on-court antics — no “selfish guys” talk. Lance even recently told Rick Bonnell at the Charlotte Observer that the adjustment has been far more difficult than he anticipated, so it’s clear he understands what is wrong.

If Stephenson is available, then, would Indiana be interested? Should they be interested?

Some fans would argue that his Charlotte experience proves he isn’t worth the trouble, while others say it has taught him a lesson and that he could return with a different attitude. The Ghost of Lance Stephenson will not leave the Pacers alone, despite Roy Hibbert’s protests.

It’s hard to tell what it would even take to get Stephenson right now, but given their need for shooting, a package centered around C.J. Miles/Chris Copeland would be expected, and they’d probably have to throw in someone else (Ian Mahinmi or Luis Scola) to make the salaries work, along with maybe a pick. After spending his first four years in the Pacers’ system, Lance could make an immediate impact for an offense that’s in dire need of a playmaker on the perimeter. It’s even nice to imagine that Lance could return reinvigorated and thrive long-term as the second fiddle to Paul George, who is staying friendly with Lance.

Larry Bird was reportedly shopping Hibbert last summer, so it’s hard to tell what the wily President of Basketball Ops might try to pull. Bird did spend a lot of his personal time getting to know and develop Lance, after all. You never know.

There are a few reasons this all seems unlikely, starting with the fact that Indiana’s front office let Stephenson walk away in the first place, and while two years, $18 million is not an outlandish contract, it’s clearly one the Pacers weren’t willing to give Lance when they had the chance. Not to mention, although it’s too early to tell given the Pacers’ current personnel, but given what’s transpired in Charlotte, Stephenson’s ball-stopping and overdribbling might have hurt Frank Vogel’s offense more than people realized at the time.

Perhaps the biggest reason might be the big fella himself, Roy Hibbert. The head butting between Roy and Lance seems pretty real at this point. Everyone knew who Roy was talking about last spring, and everything we’ve read since then seems to confirm that those two were at the core of the Pacers’ divide. With Hibbert now playing better now that Lance is out of town, testing that relationship a second time seems risky, especially considering Hibbert is the foundation of Vogel’s defensive system.

Then again, Larry Bird was reportedly shopping Hibbert last summer, so it’s hard to tell what the wily President of Basketball Ops might pull. Bird did spend a lot of his personal time getting to know and develop Lance, after all. You never know.

Thinking pragmatically, though, and considering how recent his exit was and how thoroughly the Pacers seemed to move on — they signed C.J. Miles while their offer to Lance was still on the table — a Born Ready homecoming in Indianapolis seems unlikely.