Which Pacers will pick up the slack on technical and flagrant fouls now?

With Lance Stephenson gone to Los Angeles, who will replace his 10 technicals and 3 flagrant fouls last season for the Indiana Pacers?

Lance Stephenson was both the gasoline and the spark that created some of the Indiana Pacers more combustible moments last season, as evidenced by his team-high 10 technicals and three flagrant fouls from the regular season and playoffs.

Part of Stephenson’s appeal was how he got under other players’ skin — including LeBron James. Even in the playoffs, we saw what feels like the first time James reacting to the antics of Stephenson. If the best player in basketball can’t resist responding to Lance, it no surprise he antagonized opponents across the NBA.

But with Stephenson gone to Los Angeles, there is a void in the Shenanigans Department.

So who will fill the gap?

Replacing Lancetics

Those three regular-season flagrant fouls put Stephenson 7th in the NBA’s standings with 3 points while Devin Booker led the way with a total of five.

You get one point for a flagrant 1 and two points for a flagrant 2. No player had more than one flagrant 2, with a total of nine called on the season. No player accumulated enough to deal with the NBA’s suspension rules, either, as they don’t become an issue until you hit five points.

There were no other Pacers that got called for a flagrant during the regular season according to the NBA. Domantas Sabonis did pick up one in the playoffs, but the void of flagrant fouls wasn’t likely to be filled in-house even with extra effort from Sabonis.

However, Kyle O’Quinn racked up three and Doug McDermott had one called on him, so the duo of new Pacers can not only replace Lance — as the Pacers did in free agency — but they can overtake his production in the Shenanigans Department.

Stephenson’s 10 technical fouls (8 in the regular season, 2 in the playoffs) might need another team effort as well, and once again, Indiana had to bring in help as it seems the rest of the Pacers wouldn’t be able to pick up the slack.

Victor Oladipo and Thaddeus Young both picked up a pair of technicals while Bojan Bogdanovic, Darren Collison, and Myles Turner each had one. On top of that, coach Nate McMillan had six on the season and Dan Burke even picked up one.

Two of the new guys can step up as O’Quinn was called for six and Tyreke Evans had four whistled on him. Those all came in the regular season, but those numbers bode well for the Pacers replacing Stephenson’s efforts overall.

For comparison, Dwight Howard led the NBA with 17 technicals while Draymond Green wasn’t far behind with 15.

Next: Extension for McMillan in the works?

While replacing Lance Stephenson isn’t possible — he is a unique player with a unique niche within Pacers fandom — as far as shenanigans, the newest Pacers appear to be on their way to replacing and superseding Born Ready’s production.