Indiana Pacers: Why Lance Stephenson should be a target in free agency

With limited cap space this offseason, Lance Stephenson may be a viable free-agent target for the Indiana Pacers.

The offseason is finally among us. The Indiana Pacers hired Nate Bjorkgren to lead this team into next season. Now the upper brass can focus their time on what to do with this team heading into next year. There are some big questions to answer. Will the team move on from Oladipo? Will the team be able to re-sign Justin Holiday? Who can the Pacers add to the roster to improve the team? For now, we will just focus on who the Pacers could add via Free Agency.

The Pacers will have minimal cap space this offseason to add talent to the roster. Domantas Sabonis’ extension finally hits the books this upcoming season, giving the Pacers even less room to work with. The Pacers do have a few free agents they will have to decide what to do with. Justin Holiday is the top priority of these players as he had one of the best seasons of his career, especially from behind the three-point line. Jakarr Sampson is also a free agent as well.

There is a possibility they could lose out on Justin Holiday. Holiday shot a career-high from behind the three-point line at 40.5 percent. Combine that with his ability to play very solid wing defense, there won’t be a question that teams will value him as a hot commodity. All it takes is one team to throw significant money at him for the Pacers to be out of the race.

The possibility of losing Justin Holiday could quickly become a reality for the Indiana Pacers. So the question must be asked, who could they get to replace him? Some may say they already have Doug McDermott on the roster. Why would they need to add another wing? In today’s game, it’s always good to have plenty of wing players on your roster. Also, there happens to be a certain wing player available that just happens to be the perfect fit for the Pacers.

The Pacers could target Lance Stephenson in free agency as a potential Justin Holiday replacement should he leave. Lance would most likely sign for the veteran minimum which doesn’t hurt the cap. Lance is also coming off a good season in the Chinese league and would come in fresh and ready to play. Granted he is a different style of wing player than Justin Holiday but what he lacks in comparison he makes up with his energy.

The Pacers almost signed Lance Stephenson before the season was put on halt due to Covid. In an article on Forbes, it says Lance was “99 percent set to sign with the Indiana Pacers before the pandemic hit in March”.  The Pacers were looking to help replace the loss of Jeremy Lamb for the season with Lance.

Unfortunately in the NBA restart, anyone that played overseas that season wasn’t able to join the NBA teams in Orlando, which included Stephenson. Lance played in the Chinese Basketball Association on a one-year deal. Stephenson played for the Liaoning Flying Leopards this year and averaged 26.7 points and 7.6 rebounds.

The opportunity is there for a reunion between the Pacers and Lance. They do say that the third time’s the charm. If the Pacers lose out on Holiday, I think Stephenson to the Pacers has a high chance of becoming a reality once again. Also wouldn’t it be awesome to see Born Ready back in a Pacers uniform?