The Indiana Pacers announced Monday, Jan.24th that they are signing Lance Stephenson to a second 10-day contract. Although this is his third 10-day with the team, they are allowed to sign him again due to his first contract being hardship exception.
Lance signed initially with the Indiana Pacers right before the new year, with the team having several players out in health and safety protocols.
Now that they no longer have players out for that reason, the team has to sign him to a standard 10-day contract which they’ve now done twice and cannot anymore after this 10-day expires on Feb. 2.
After that date, the team must decide if they want to keep him around for the rest of the season – one week away from the NBA trade deadline.
The Pacers have been a hot name in the trade market as the deadline approaches, but with Myles Turner’s injury status up in the air, that may dampen the team’s options and potential returns to make a deal this season.
Stephenson is averaging 9.5 points per game, 3.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 28.1% from behind the arc and 46.2% from the field in his 11 games played with the Pacers.
He has struggled throughout his first standard 10-day deal, in a 5 game stretch averaged just 3.4 points per game, and shot 10% from three. This was with 13 minutes per game.
With Malcolm Brogdon set to miss more time, this second 10-day makes sense and is good for the Pacers who would like to see more consistency from Lance.
He set a high bar for himself in his first two games with the team, scoring 20 points in the first quarter in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The team will need Lance’s ability to set guys up in pick and roll situations and if Brogdon is out any longer they will have to look at keeping him for the season.