Someone was always going to take the next chance on Lance Stephenson — it was just a matter of when and who.
It turns out the when was Monday and the who was the Clippers. Coach and general manager Doc Rivers embarked on his latest reclamation project by plucking Stephenson from the Hornets for Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes, a boom-or-bust move for a Clippers team that’s ready to win now — with a title window that already could be closing.
Stephenson’s signing last summer was praised in plenty of places — including this one — as the Hornets took a chance on a young player with high upside while maintaining flexibility by having just two guaranteed years on the deal.
The short-term nature of the contract allowed the Hornets to escape from it after an utterly disastrous season from Stephenson. He set a new record for futility from 3-point range, hitting just 17.1 percent, while dealing with a string of injuries that largely left him stapled to the bench.
There was doubt whether Stephenson could flourish outside of the nurturing cocoon the Pacers had created in Indianapolis, and it came to fruition in the worst-case scenario for all involved.
But now the mercurial Brooklyn native is going to get a fresh start on the Left Coast — though this situation has the potential to become just as ugly. Though Stephenson is 10 years younger than the 35-year-old Barnes, Rivers now has traded one of the six players he was willing to rely on last season (plus Spencer Hawes, who wound up being a free-agency disaster of his own for the Clippers) for a player who can’t shoot 3s and could be a difficult fit with the Clippers roster.
Stephenson is used to having the ball in his hands. Well, no point guard has the ball in his hands more than Chris Paul, and Stephenson isn’t exactly spot-up shooter material, considering his 3-point shooting percentage last year was half that of Barnes (who was viewed by many as not being enough of a threat).
The guess here is that Rivers will handle Stephenson like he did DeAndre Jordan when Rivers arrived in Los Angeles two summers ago. He’ll immediately begin pumping him up, trying to improve his confidence and help Stephenson put last season behind him. Stephenson likely will become the primary ball-handler for the second unit (though that depends on the futures of Doc’s son, Austin, who is a free agent, and Jamal Crawford, who has a partially guaranteed deal for next season) and be given the top perimeter defensive assignment on a nightly basis.
On top of all of that, Stephenson — whom teams worry about in terms of off-the-court distractions — is now going to be living in Los Angeles. It’s going to take all of the communication skills Rivers has, not to mention the leadership of Paul, Blake Griffin and Jordan, to keep Stephenson in line.
But the Clippers weren’t going to win a title by standing pat, so Rivers decided to take a swing on Stephenson, a risk that could either blow up or make him look like a very wise man.
The Hornets’ primary objective was to dump Stephenson, but the trade could work out for them. Charlotte desperately needed shooting, and though Hawes struggled in Los Angeles, he’s proven he’s a capable 3-point shooter and could fit nicely in the frontcourt by providing Al Jefferson space to operate on the block. Defensively, that pairing could get pretty ugly pretty quick.
Barnes reportedly will be waived, though the Hornets have a couple weeks to use his cheap, partially guaranteed deal — only $1 million of the $3.5 million he’s owed for 2015-16 is guaranteed if he is waived prior to July 1 — to get another asset.
Make no mistake, though: From the Hornets’ point of view, this trade was about dumping Stephenson, so it’s a success.
The questions now reside in Los Angeles, where Rivers is about to take on his biggest locker room challenge yet. How he manages it will make the difference between another “Born Ready” headache or a possible fairy-tale ending in Hollywood.