Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

Lance Stephenson benched again — did the Charlotte Hornets overpay?

By Ben Beecken

facebooktwitterreddit

Lance Stephenson has always been a fascinating and simultaneously depressing story, from “Born Ready” to supposedly getting his head on straight to allegedly pushing his girlfriend down a flight of steps to turning himself into a borderline All-Star in just four years in the NBA. (Sidebar: just imagine if the assault charge happened now. Things have changed dramatically in the past three-and-a-half years, haven’t they?) Now, he’s being paid like a star and is being benched in the fourth quarter by his head coach.

Stephenson appeared in just four games in his rookie season, and shortly thereafter found himself in the rotation of a contending team. His emphatic on-court style that at times reminds folks of a streetball-esque way of playing attracts attention, and casual fans tune in for just that sort of excitement.

And even for the purists, it’s hard to ignore that Stephenson’s infectious attitude on the court is refreshing in an era where too many stars and players in general won’t show emotion, or are too afraid of “showing up” the opponent or perhaps garnering a technical foul. Today’s NBA is too stuffy, the thought goes, so Stephenson is refreshing in his willingness to do anything to get into the head of his opponent.

But from a pure production standpoint, Stephenson has been relatively underwhelming in comparison to the hype surrounding his game. He’s a career 31.7% shooter from three-point range, and only shoots 67.4% from the free throw line. Neither mark is ideal for a shooting guard. Even worse, he’s turned the ball over on 17.1% of his possessions — a rate that would be high for a point guard but is astronomical for someone that isn’t necessarily a primary ball handler.

Ironically, Stephenson is most effective as a distributor in the open floor and driving into the paint. He’s not a spot-up shooter, and can be a bit of the wing equivalent of a black hole while playing shooting guard. Stephenson is at his best well handling the ball, but he’s only a truly effective and efficient player when he’s able to keep his turnovers in check.

In the off-season, the Charlotte Hornets signed Stephenson to a three-year, $27.4 million contract after he had turned down a five-year, $44 million deal to stay with the Indiana Pacers. The Hornets already employ 24-year old Kemba Walker at the point guard position, and they didn’t sign Stephenson to be a backup.

In fact, Born Ready has played more than one-third of his minutes at the small forward position so far this season, with the rest of his court time coming at the two-guard. The Hornets have rotated Gerald Henderson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and P.J. Hairston through the other starting wing position. Stephenson is a weird fit along with the rest of that crew, as nobody in that group is a consistent, proven three-point shooter.

While playing some point forward with the second unit, Stephenson has been able to increase his assist percentage to 25.9%, his highest career mark save for his four-game mark in his rookie season. In a slower, half court offense centered around Al Jefferson, Stephenson has taken 37.4% of his shots from 10 feet to the three-point arc — easily the highest tally of his career. In a less wide-open offensive system without Paul George to support him on the wing and in the back court, Stephenson has taken (and made) less three-pointers and shots at the rim.

It’s a combination of Stephenson being overrated to begin with (he’s been a nice sixth-man-type player through his first few seasons) and being misused in Charlotte. The idea that the Hornets were going to plug in a high-usage, average-at-best-outside-shooting wing to an offense that centers around a post-scoring big man and not miss a beat while getting star-level production from Stephenson was utopic at best.

Just as head coach Steve Clifford gruffly stated to the media this week, Stephenson has “talent to become a star”, but “he’s not a star”. Never has that been more apparent than when he has been asked to do more with less proven talent around him.

And that’s not to say that things won’t work out for Stephenson in Charlotte; it’s far too early to tell. But so far, Stephenson has altered his play in a negative way and is struggling to find himself as the highest-profile perimeter player on what is supposed to be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference.

More from Dunking with Wolves

Home/Timberwolves News