We seriously need to sign Lance Stephenson!!!!!!!

Ignore his character flaws, because its the NBA.

This guy is legit all-star if coaches looked past his perceived character flaws.

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There is no denying that Lance Stephenson plays with emotion and passion. Sometimes, a little too much. Basically, he is on the opposite side of the spectrum from Kahwi Leonard. Lance will let you know how he feels and he’s not afraid to wear those emotions on his sleeve.

Although at times it can get him in trouble and put his Pacer teammates at a detriment (once again, never add fuel to King James’ fire), his bulldog toughness is a positive and is what helps separate him from other athletic playmaking guards in the league.

Stephenson’s toughness and swagger comes from his Brooklyn background and making a name for himself on the playgrounds of NYC. And if you didn’t know he was from Brooklyn, he will certainly remind you constantly yelping out at practices, “Brooklyn, Brooklyn, I’m from Brooklyn,” according to Pacer teammate Roy Hibbert. The never back down attitude that Stephenson brings to the table is admirable and a trait that the Pacers highly value.

Lance has grown up with a chip on his shoulder and with something to prove and he fully embraces that role. Whether it was challenging the next great one in high school at the time, OJ Mayo, and more than holding his own head-to-head or whether it is taking it on himself to stop LeBron (which might be more of a pipe dream) his confidence in his ability and his pitbull-esque attitude are rarely shaken.

Stephenson doesn’t necessarily have a strict position, but is more suited for the title of playmaker. And this label fits him well. A very overlooked trait and skill set in the NBA is the ability to make plays for teammates and create advantageous scoring opportunities.

Lance does just this. In pick-and-roll situations (22.8 percent of Lance’s offensive touches), he is converting at a 0.84 points per possession rate ranking him in the top 70 percent of the league and ahead of the likes of Manu Ginobili.

- See more at: http://hoopshype.com/columns/david-nurse/the-curious-case-of-lance-stephenson#sthash.0PTwjGew.dpuf

The adjusted field goal percentage from Stephenson pick-and-roll situations for the Pacers is 51.1 percent, meaning that Lance is able to create open looks for teammates out of the ball screen. He is still a ways from being a polished Chris Paul-esque playmaker, but Stephenson is much more in tune with efficient distributing averaging nearly twice as many assists this season, 4.6, than he has his entire career.

Stephenson's playmaking ability is key for the Pacers, essentially giving them a three-headed playmaking monster alongside underrated George Hill and Paul George. Now if they just had a few shooters on the wing to capitalize on this playmaking plethora... But that’s another story for another day.

A very underrated aspect of Stephenson’s game is his shot-making ability. Not known for being a catch-and-shoot type player, Lance is much better in this field than he is given credit for (and probably much better than he actually realizes).

In spot-up catch-and-shoot situations, Lance is converting at an adjusted field goal percentage of 59.8 percent with a points per possession clip of 1.16. That ranks him in the top 90 percent in the league and in front of the decent spot up shooting trio of Ray Allen, Matt Bonner, and Klay Thompson. If you just said to yourself ‘what the...?!’ after reading that, trust me, you’re not alone.

 

you have a problem with that?

 

We need to use the capspace, or otherwise the capspace is gone forever in the Dwight era.

Everyone is getting paid massive amounts this summer, I mean getting a Jordan Hill + Jodie Meeks is much worse than spending it in one go on an all-star on Lance Stephenson.