The Los Angeles Clippers' season ended in disaster when they blew a 3-1 series lead against the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs. With the team capped out heading into the offseason, Doc Rivers had to get creative in order to improve the team. Rivers did just that by trading Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes for Lance Stephenson, although it remains to be seen if this bold deal will actually upgrade the Clippers.
Lance Stephenson is a risk worth taking for Clippers
The enigmatic guard is a high-risk, high-reward acquisition for Los Angeles.
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Just two years ago, Stephenson was a rising star in the league, despite some antics that made him an occasional headache. He flourished with the Indiana Pacers as a secondary ball handler who could prop up second units with his playmaking, and he was an improving outside shooter with the ability to be a tenacious defender.
But those antics hurt his case when he hit the free agent market last offseason, and Stephenson ultimately signed a three-year, $27 million pact with a Charlotte Hornets squad desperate for an offensive upgrade.
Unfortunately for the Hornets, Stephenson was a complete disaster. His shooting regressed in a bad way, as he shot under 38 percent overall and a tick over 17 percent from three in the Hornets’ spacing-starved offense. His 17.1 percent mark from long range (down from 35 percent in 2013-14) was the worst ever for a player with at least 100 attempts.
Charlotte explored Stephenson trades almost from the get-go once it was clear that experiment wasn’t working out, and a taker has finally been found in Los Angeles. So why would the Clippers bother making this deal and take on a player his old team couldn’t wait to get rid of?
Clearly, Rivers is banking on getting through to Stephenson and tapping into some of that potential that had him on the rise in Indiana. He’s still just 24 years old, and if he can regain the form he showed with the Pacers, he’ll provide value.
The Clippers needed more shot creation from the guard position other than just Chris Paul. Jamal Crawford has been that guy in the past, but Crawford is 35 and was awful in the playoffs, shooting just 36 percent overall and 24 percent from three. Crawford isn’t exactly a playmaker either, and Stephenson at his best is a player who can create for himself and others.
The Clippers should use Stephenson as the anchor of their second unit, much like the Pacers did. Los Angeles scored just 95.6 points per 100 possessions with Paul on the bench this regular season, down from 115.1 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor, per NBA.com.
Of course, this could backfire spectacularly. Stephenson is best with the ball in his hands, and while that’s fine when Paul is on the bench, there could be issues when the two share the court. That’ll especially be the case if Stephenson’s three-point shooting doesn’t come out of the pits. We saw some of the issues with spacing when teams didn’t respect Barnes’ outside shooting, and that could be a problem again with Stephenson.
The antics and attitude issues could prove troublesome as well (and what about Lance in Hollywood?), although the hope is that a respected head coach like Rivers and a strong leadership voice in Paul can rein in Stephenson. Those guys aren’t going to put up with any nonsense, and we’ll see if Paul and Stephenson can get along.
The good news is Stephenson only has two years and $18 million left on his deal, with the second year being a team option. If things go south, the Clippers can let him go after this season, look to flip him in another trade or even waive him using the stretch provision (though they would owe him $18 million over five seasons).
Next season will act as a one-year tryout for Stephenson, and the risk could very well be worth the reward. The Clippers aren’t losing much by trading away the 35-year-old Barnes and Hawes, who was a disaster after Doc gave him the full mid-level exception last summer.
Depth remains an issue for the time being and re-signing DeAndre Jordan is a must, but having Hawes around didn't change that. Hawes was basically out of the rotation in the postseason, and any talk of him being "insurance" for Jordan leaving was misguided. An upgrade was needed either way.
Los Angeles will have to be thrifty when it comes to improving that depth. The full mid-level is technically available to them, but the Clippers can’t use it and also re-sign Jordan to a max deal because the use of the mid-level activates the hard cap and they won’t have the room under the hard cap for both.
The mini mid-level exception starting at $3.38 million will be an avenue to improve the team, but it’s that and minimums at this point since Los Angeles doesn’t have a first-round draft pick at its disposal. It was that way before the Stephenson deal, so you can see why Rivers was willing to take this gamble on a talented yet enigmatic player.
Stephenson could turn out to be a bust in Los Angeles, but given the situation and makeup of the roster, this was a risk worth taking.
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