James Boyd says its time to say goodbye to Lance

[Grang33r]

Thoughts? I for one will be sad to see Lance go, and i'm in the belief that next season could be even worse then last season in terms of wins, so not sure how it could hurt to have a fan favorite? However, James does bring up good points in his argument. It's a story thats gone pretty viral on the twitter machine. Figured i'd post it here too.

Insider: It was fun while it lasted, but the Pacers and Lance Stephenson should part ways

INDIANAPOLIS — Lance Stephenson's triumphant return to Indiana was a joy to witness. After being out of the NBA for the entire 2019-20 season, he joined the G League to claw his way back, first signing a 10-day contract with the Hawks and then a string of 10-day deals with the Pacers before Indiana finally signed him for the rest of the 2021-22 season.

In true Stephenson fashion, he gave Pacers fans plenty to remember. He scored an NBA-record 20 first-quarter points off the bench against the Nets on Jan. 5, dished a career-high 14 assists against the Jazz three days later and threw a behind-the-back pass that led to an Oshae Brissett poster dunk against the Trail Blazers on March 20, arguably the team's most exciting play of the season.

"This is home," Stephenson said after his record-setting game against Brooklyn. "I still got my house here. I never left here, so it's amazing to play here. This is like playing in front of my family."

Link- https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2022/06/28/pacers-should-not-re-sign-fan-favorite-lance-stephenson-free-agency/7747132001/

[Pacers Forever]

Can’t read article due to paywall.

I would be sad to see Lance not resigned. I love his antics and his energy sparking the team. Lance pros is NBA experience, fan favorite, makes flashy plays, 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. Cons are his age 31, 3pt% 31, little upside.

A young player has more potential and if the Pacers make the right roster decisions better future talent will take his spot which it should.

Edmund Sumner is actually a better option than Lance if we can get him in on a prove it deal. Pros are age 26, 53% FG, 40% 3PT, speed, pesky pt guard defense. These numbers were from his last season with us.

Maybe if it’s over for Lance he can join the bench staff to stay connected here.

[Pathora]

There should be room for Lance to basically have a Udonis Haslem type role on team. I feel like Mathurin could use a guy like Lance to get into him from time to time. I was one of the never wanted to see Lance again on the team last year but he proved to be more than worth it. If Lance was a 1 position player I'd kick him to the curb but in theory he can backup play 3 positions.

Haliburton/McConnell/Nembhard
Duarte/Hield/Washington/Lance
Mathurin/Brown
Brissett/Taylor
Turner/Jackson

My feeling is that Brogdon and Goga are 100% gone (possibly in same deal), Warren is probably 90% gone and McConnell could also go.

[8305]

Can’t read article due to paywall.

I would be sad to see Lance not resigned. I love his antics and his energy sparking the team. Lance pros is NBA experience, fan favorite, makes flashy plays, 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. Cons are his age 31, 3pt% 31, little upside.

A young player has more potential and if the Pacers make the right roster decisions better future talent will take his spot which it should.

Edmund Sumner is actually a better option than Lance if we can get him in on a prove it deal. Pros are age 26, 53% FG, 40% 3PT, speed, pesky pt guard defense. These numbers were from his last season with us.

Maybe if it’s over for Lance he can join the bench staff to stay connected here.

I agree that Sumner would make more sense,and with all the guards on this roster now I’m not sure we have a place for him.

[Pacers Forever]

Can’t read article due to paywall.

I would be sad to see Lance not resigned. I love his antics and his energy sparking the team. Lance pros is NBA experience, fan favorite, makes flashy plays, 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. Cons are his age 31, 3pt% 31, little upside.

A young player has more potential and if the Pacers make the right roster decisions better future talent will take his spot which it should.

Edmund Sumner is actually a better option than Lance if we can get him in on a prove it deal. Pros are age 26, 53% FG, 40% 3PT, speed, pesky pt guard defense. These numbers were from his last season with us.

Maybe if it’s over for Lance he can join the bench staff to stay connected here.

I agree that Sumner would make more sense,and with all the guards on this roster now I’m not sure we have a place for him.

Exactly ! Definitely no room for our current 2 way players Hinton and York since we drafted 3 guard types. Have to see how the roster moves in free agency address the 3 and 4 position and if we send out Brogdon and don’t take back a player. Stay tuned

[pacers33granger]

We're going to need more vets than just TJ, Myles, and Buddy.

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[Tom White]

Every time i read something from Boyd, I get more convinced he doesn't have a clue.

Does he really think other players filling the 14th or 15th spot would be more important to the team than Stephenson? Lance means more to this team than what shows in a box score.

[Pacers Forever]

Every time i read something from Boyd, I get more convinced he doesn't have a clue.

Does he really think other players filling the 14th or 15th spot would be more important to the team than Stephenson? Lance means more to this team than what shows in a box score.

Luckily I don’t see his content as I’ve said it before I rarely have liked anything about the Indy Star.

Being out of the market I follow Caitlin, Tony East, Indy cornrows, Wheat Hotchkiss, for my Pacer’s content on Twitter and that’s more than enough.

[Scoot McGroot]

As is, there’s simply no room on the roster for him. The draft was terrible for Lance. Currently, we have
Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, Washington, Brogdon, Buddy, Mathurin, and Duarte at the guard spots. We’re already overloaded there. Without a large move, there’s just not room for him.

And Lance is still too young to be a Haslem sitting on the end of the bench. He’s still able to play. If Lance is willing to wait out possible trades, then there might be a spot if we move 2-3 guards. But he also might wait too long and end up without a landing spot anywhere if it doesn’t work out.

[Tom White]

As is, there’s simply no room on the roster for him. The draft was terrible for Lance. Currently, we have
Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, Washington, Brogdon, Buddy, Mathurin, and Duarte at the guard spots. We’re already overloaded there. Without a large move, there’s just not room for him.

And Lance is still too young to be a Haslem sitting on the end of the bench. He’s still able to play. If Lance is willing to wait out possible trades, then there might be a spot if we move 2-3 guards. But he also might wait too long and end up without a landing spot anywhere if it doesn’t work out.

If I were the Pacers, I'd be tempted to look at him as more of a back-up SF. He has the strength and rebounding to play the position, and his ball handling and passing skills are still a plus. And you never know when he will unleash a clock beating three at a needed time.

But my main thing is, this is a team that just suffered through a season of only winning 25 games (injuries or not, that is awful), and what is remaining of the fanbase loves the guy and could care less about guys like Washington, Hinton, Sykes or York. I might be able to make a case for Taylor, but still... In this case, I think you give the fans someone they love to root for.

[Scoot McGroot]

As is, there’s simply no room on the roster for him. The draft was terrible for Lance. Currently, we have
Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, Washington, Brogdon, Buddy, Mathurin, and Duarte at the guard spots. We’re already overloaded there. Without a large move, there’s just not room for him.

And Lance is still too young to be a Haslem sitting on the end of the bench. He’s still able to play. If Lance is willing to wait out possible trades, then there might be a spot if we move 2-3 guards. But he also might wait too long and end up without a landing spot anywhere if it doesn’t work out.

If I were the Pacers, I'd be tempted to look at him as more of a back-up SF. He has the strength and rebounding to play the position, and his ball handling and passing skills are still a plus. And you never know when he will unleash a clock beating three at a needed time.

But my main thing is, this is a team that just suffered through a season of only winning 25 games (injuries or not, that is awful), and what is remaining of the fanbase loves the guy and could care less about guys like Washington, Hinton, Sykes or York. I might be able to make a case for Taylor, but still... In this case, I think you give the fans someone they love to root for.

I think you also have to strive to build a team that will win games, and if you’re not developing youth, how are you going to make that jump in the nba. Washington and Taylor are important in that regard. Hinton and York are 2 ways, so they don’t factor in at all to Lance in terms of roster spots. And Sykes was waived to keep Lance in town.

I get the thought, but Lance was replaced by Indy loading up on guards. They could always still bring him to to town. But I’m not of the opinion we should dump promising youth to keep Lance around. He should be the first “filler vet” on our call sheet, for sure, though.

[Pathora]

Lance is not coveted around the league and loves the Pacers. There is no spot for him anywhere else, that's why he wasn't on a team the last few seasons.

[8305]

As is, there’s simply no room on the roster for him. The draft was terrible for Lance. Currently, we have
Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, Washington, Brogdon, Buddy, Mathurin, and Duarte at the guard spots. We’re already overloaded there. Without a large move, there’s just not room for him.

And Lance is still too young to be a Haslem sitting on the end of the bench. He’s still able to play. If Lance is willing to wait out possible trades, then there might be a spot if we move 2-3 guards. But he also might wait too long and end up without a landing spot anywhere if it doesn’t work out.

If I were the Pacers, I'd be tempted to look at him as more of a back-up SF. He has the strength and rebounding to play the position, and his ball handling and passing skills are still a plus. And you never know when he will unleash a clock beating three at a needed time.

But my main thing is, this is a team that just suffered through a season of only winning 25 games (injuries or not, that is awful), and what is remaining of the fanbase loves the guy and could care less about guys like Washington, Hinton, Sykes or York. I might be able to make a case for Taylor, but still... In this case, I think you give the fans someone they love to root for.

Lance will deliver some entertaining moments if given some minutes. Unfortunately, he's an unremarkable defender, a bad shooter and a ball stopper. In today's game there is no place for that. IMO, keeping Lance provides a Harlem Globetrotter element that indicates lack of seriousness on the part of management.

[pacers33granger]

I don't really buy the argument that there's no room for him. I think we're seeing the same thing that happened in Dallas in that Rick plays a bunch of guards. Guys will get time and only Hali should see significant minutes.

We need to get rid of Brogdon of course but there's a spot for him to be an end of the bench vet and he won't be blocking any young guys.

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[boomershadow]

I don't really buy the argument that there's no room for him. I think we're seeing the same thing that happened in Dallas in that Rick plays a bunch of guards. Guys will get time and only Hali should see significant minutes.

We need to get rid of Brogdon of course but there's a spot for him to be an end of the bench vet and he won't be blocking any young guys.

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I don't buy it either. We need 3s and we have played Lance at the 3 before.

[Wizop]

If I have to choose, I'd take Sumner over Lance.

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[Adrian Street]

If I have to choose, I'd take Sumner over Lance.

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I would take Sumner easy over Lance

[ahartleyvu]

Screw you James Boyd