Is now the time to trade Lance Stephenson?

[SmashMouthRod]

Here's a plan I like.

Pacers draft Jamal Franklin. Best I can tell he's a Lance Stephenson clone on the court. You probably aren't waiting two years for him to be court time ready either.

Trade Lance to the Knicks for pick 24, send pick 24 to Houston for Thomas Robinson.

Franklin is not going to be Lance Stephenson. He has a solid game but I doubt he's as good or will be as good as Lance. I dont think Lance's past matters anymore besides; you cant hold on to what happened during his high school years. Many great athletes make mistakes when their young but learn from them. Examples include Ben Roethlisberger (2 accused rapes); Kobe Bryant (1 accused rape); hell even a guy like Tim Tebow has a harassment charge. Lance now has better role models in his life and around him such as D. West; Bird and Shaw (now exiting). Him growing up in Brooklyn; I doubt he had the proper role models; parental figures. He hasnt been in trouble the last two years. The Lebron choke thing last season doesnt even matter.

[Jake0890]

I always saw an MKG-esque glue guy in Franklin. Obviously not as good as MKG, but... Never even thought of Lance.

[8305]

Franklin led a respectable San Diego State in scoring, rebounding and assits. He is also seen as a harding working lock down defender with a 6'11" wing span. The issue is his shot and can it be fixed.

The strengths and weakness seem to pretty closely mirror Lance. And even if he's isn't quite as good I don't see it taking 2 years to get him on the floor. From this point 4 years on a rookie contract vs 1 for Lance.

I like what Lance brings to the team and the thought of potentially losing that is problematic to me. So hey, get the closest thing you can as a replacement.

[pacers33granger]

Based off of the police reports, there was loud chatter from various media outlets that this incident was a typical garden variety scam. Hell, I'd throw myself down a flight of stairs for a million bucks. Maybe this girl felt insecure because she thought Lance was her meal ticket, only to find he likes to frequent strip joints.

Remember the girl who accused multiple players from the same team of rape some time ago? They got off because they were fortunate enough to have recorded their very legal tag-team on video. Point is, if it wasn't for the video these guys would have been labeled for the rest of their lives, even though they were innocent. From this agents actually drafted sexual consent forms for players to distribute to potential one-night-stands.

The NBA conducts rookie seminars on how to avoid scams for a reason.

Sure. It's possible. It's also possible she could have slammed her own head on the stairs multiple times as well, just to sell it.

I just highly doubt it. Lance has a violent history in his past. Both to a ref (on the court), and to women in his past. He had a sexual harassing past, as well as nearly getting hit with a sexual assault count in high school. There's question marks there. Enough so that we should always be prepared and have a backup plan in place for him.

I agree we should have a backup plan in place, but the same could be said about any player you rely on.

Outside of the choke sign last year and general erratic play/frustrations on the court, Lance hasn't done anything in the NBA that's made me think of him as the loose cannon he was in high school, allegedly. He was the next big thing in New York, it would go to anyone's head.

I know there's an extra hesitancy due to the Artest, Tinsley, Jackson days, but all three of those players had major issues on and off the court while young and still while veterans. Lance showed a lot of maturity this year and held his composure very well.

I see your POV Scoot and understand it, but I think that the Lance we've actually seen (mainly on the court) is perfectly fine for a 22 year old kid in the NBA. He's been a star since he was a little kid and all charges against him from his past were dropped.

I'm confident that Hibbert wouldn't pay his fine and Bird wouldn't take him under his wing if he was the type of guy to toss a pregnant woman down a flight of stairs. IIRC he's already back working on his game. I also remember that, like the majority of NBA players, he went to a strip club after the Pacers were eliminated, but barely dropped any cash and mostly sat in a corner the whole time.

[Jake0890]

To get back to the question in the title:

Lance's value is the highest right now it has ever, or might ever be. So if we want to cash in on that, sure, trade him. But who's a better fit for our team than him? Who's going to trade a player that's solidified himself for Lance? I think no one.

[Wizop]

speaking of trades, did you see the piece on indy cornrows suggesting Green should be easy to trade because he's entertaining but will help his team lose games for lottery positioning. I hope his tongue was firmly in his cheek.

[8305]

To get back to the question in the title:

Lance's value is the highest right now it has ever, or might ever be. So if we want to cash in on that, sure, trade him. But who's a better fit for our team than him? Who's going to trade a player that's solidified himself for Lance? I think no one.

When I posed the questions it was not based on the logic of buy low/sell high. I was really coming from the perspective of where are we if in July of 2014 both he and Granger are gone and we have 50 million committed to West, Hill, George and Hibbert long term and we are drafting from pick 25 and up?

Trading either Granger or Stephenson this summer probably brings 50 cents on the dollar but, if that 50 cents is invested in players who benefit the team beyond 2014 as opposed to the dollar spent and possibly gone after this coming season what is the better outcome?

Its a tough question. In two years Lance and Paul George could be the best wing tandem in the game.

[8305]

speaking of trades, did you see the piece on indy cornrows suggesting Green should be easy to trade because he's entertaining but will help his team lose games for lottery positioning. I hope his tongue was firmly in his cheek.

I don't think real executives think this way but, I see it on these chat board all the time. Regularly I've seen Indy's approach for building this team criticized for not doing a better job of tanking and having access to higher draft picks.