Lance Dances Off to China

[granger05]

LINK

A one year deal for more than he'd make on an NBA vet min contract. What do you think his basketball career would look like if he'd never left Indy? I'm thinking a perennial 6th man of the year candidate who his own team likes more than anybody else would. I think the era of player movement kind of bit Lance in the ass and he'd have been better served sticking around.

What's a comparable player career currently in the league to what a Pacer-for-life-Lance would look like?

[Scoot McGroot]

LINK

A one year deal for more than he'd make on an NBA vet min contract. What do you think his basketball career would look like if he'd never left Indy? I'm thinking a perennial 6th man of the year candidate who his own team likes more than anybody else would. I think the era of player movement kind of bit Lance in the ass and he'd have been better served sticking around.

What's a comparable player career currently in the league to what a Pacer-for-life-Lance would look like?

Not in the league anymore, but he could've been a Udonis Haslem for us like you described, though I still think he's pretty much that. I think the leaving made him more thankful for Indy and helped him return. The LA leave, though? Meh. That might've killed his longevity here. He'll make his money in that one year deal and now in China, but he likely could've maintained a roster spot long-term here if he stuck. But, we also let every free agent go this summer, so who's to say he would've made it through?

[granger05]

I just went over to fivethirtyeight's CARMELO page where you can look at player's career projections and what the model thinks they're worth. Lance falls into the "scrub" category and his 5-year market projection is that he should pay your team $2.7 million to play for you for 5 years.

[pacers33granger]

Pretty crazy that he could have been a mainstay here if he just accepted the deal Bird offered him after his rookie deal was up. Maybe that contract becomes an albatross for us or maybe he continues to improve.

[Pacers_Freak]

Crazy what could have been if Lance had stayed here. But, never fault a man for getting his money. Glad to see he will be getting money overseas. Go get em Lance.

[Jake0890]

Yep, should've never left for Charlotte...

[winter_mute_13]

I'm over Lance, lol. Unfortunately, he plays with a lot more confidence than his actual talent warranted. Sometimes this results in spectacular plays, all too often though it ends up being spectacularly bad.

This unpredictably was part of his fan appeal, I think, as well as being an outsized personality on a team devoid of any. But on balance I think I prefer the boring predictable players we have now, LOL. Plus on the personality front, Dipo pretty much has that covered.

I hope he does well in China. If things end up well for him, I think he can be another Marbury there.