How Will Lance Stephenson Impact The LA Clippers?
As the Los Angeles Clippers and the Charlotte Hornets completed a trade that sent guard Lance Stephenson to LA in exchange for Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes, the feeling around the Clippers’ side of things was pretty upbeat: they’d rid themselves of their own free-agency experiment gone wrong in Hawes, and picked up an untapped talent in Stephenson. With Doc Rivers and Chris Paul showing him the way, Stephenson will surely be better off in a Clippers jersey as he gears up for one final chance at proving himself.
Make no mistake though; Stephenson was bad this past season. Very bad. Believe it or not, his 37-percent shooting from the field wasn’t even the worst of it. His 17-percent three-point shooting is what really stands out as it was the worst three-point shooting season ever among players with at least 100 attempts.
It should be obvious then, that the Hornets averaged four fewer points with Stephenson on the floor than they did when he sat. In addition, opponents scored about two more points when Stephenson was on the court, bringing the Hornets’ point-differentials to -0.9 with Stephenson out, and -6.6 with him playing. Charlotte was statistically worse at just about everything with Stephenson on the floor as well. Not a compelling case when trying to get someone to take a chance on you.
Fortunately for Stephenson, he has not been thrust into a similar situation to that of Charlotte. While the Hornets struggled to find points as they waited for Stephenson to find his offensive touch, the Clippers can score regardless of Stephenson. His dancing with the ball that went nowhere will land him a spot on the bench in LA, rather than merely a groan from the crowd. His defensive gambles won’t be tolerated by Rivers and Paul who have championship aspirations for the immediate future, not the distant one.
The support group around him in LA will be an immense improvement to the one he had in Charlotte, but whether or not Stephenson fits in from a basketball point of view is a bit more puzzling.
As I said before, his leash won’t be as long on a team that has championship aspirations for right now.
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Stephenson played arguably the best basketball of his career in the playoffs of 2014, in which the top-seeded Indiana Pacers played through Stephenson much of the time. The shots were falling, the team was winning (albeit not quite like they were expected to) and things were good. I bring up these playoffs because Stephenson started alongside George Hill. Hill — a point-guard by title — is actually more of an off-ball shooter. Stephenson will likely come off the bench for the Clippers and will handle the ball plenty. Some might scoff at the idea of Stephenson running the point in LA, but remember when Blake Griffin was bringing the ball up instead of Austin Rivers when Chris Paul was hurt in the playoffs?
Ideally, if Paul goes down, the travesty that was point-guard Griffin won’t have to be a reality with Stephenson on the team.
It still comes back to shooting though. If Stephenson is handling the ball — either for the second unit or in Chris Paul‘s place — he’s going to look for his own shot a lot of the time. His ability to finish inside will be a plus, but when misused — or overused — it won’t mask bad shooting. If he is to have any future success — in LA or elsewhere — Stephenson will have to remember how to shoot a basketball at least at a respectable level.
If his shooting percentage can simply be raised to above 40-percent (not asking very much) then I believe Doc Rivers will be content to let Stephenson dance with the ball at times, especially given his creative passing ability.
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Another problem with Stephenson’s attitude that will need to be addressed is his constant awareness of statistics.
While his assist and rebound numbers look impressive at times, simply watching him play can unearth the truth.
He sometimes only moves the ball when it will lead to an assist, meaning Stephenson’s teammates are often stuck waiting for him to make a move. Those very moves though, often lead to turnovers of which he committed 2.1 per-game last season.
Despite the host of issues with Stephenson’s mental approach, the risk is definitely worth it courtesy of his contract.
Next season will be the last on Stephenson’s deal unless his team exercises his third-year option to keep him around. This means the Clippers could be rid of him after one season should things go wrong.
Lastly, the issue of Matt Barnes‘ departure is one that needs to be addressed quickly in free-agency.
Barnes isn’t the ideal starting three-man, but the team had been unable to replace him in past seasons after bringing in Danny Granger among others in fruitless attempts to bolster the wing, but he was the best they had at his position. While trading him away seems like probably the right move, it could easily blow up in the organization’s face if they don’t find a replacement.
This makes the Small Forward position the top priority for the Clippers this offseason.
The Clippers currently possess no picks in the upcoming draft, meaning the starting small forward will likely be acquired via free agency.
Maybe Doc Rivers has assurance that Paul Pierce will sign with the team. No one knows for sure though.
At the moment, Pierce seems like the best bet for LA, as they lack the expendable assets to trade for a pick that would land them a starting-caliber player, and lack enough cap-space to pursue a more permanent wing solution such as Khris Middleton or Jimmy Butler.
Only time will tell if Stephenson is going to help or hinder the Clippers next season but — at the very least — the trade was a creative way to add depth and put the franchise in a better position going forward. The Clippers are already looking like one of the league’s most interesting cases next year and — even with plenty of work ahead of them — look to be a serious threat in the stacked Western Conference.