From Brooklyn, New York, A legend in the city of Brooklyn. You can go to any playground and ask about Lance Stephenson and everyone will have a story about him. Stephenson attended Lincoln High School in Coney Island. Stephenson, 24, has privately expressed his unconditional love for the city and how he hopes to play for the Nets in his hometown borough before his career comes to an end.
In 21 games this season, for the 6-15 Charlotte Hornets, Stephenson has averages of 34 minutes, 10.5 points, 7.4 rebounds per and 5.3 assists per game. He’s shot right at or near career lows from the field at 38.7 %, three-point land 16% and the free throw line 67% as mostly a rotation player at this point. Not to mention once again, the Charlotte Hornets are a underwhelming 6-15.
But according to RealGM.com’s Shams Carina, Stephenson may be garnering trade interest, even from his hometown Brooklyn Nets.
Lance Stephenson has garnered fresh trade inquiries into the Charlotte Hornets’ front office recently and wouldn’t be opposed to a potential move to the Brooklyn Nets, but hopes to remain part of and succeed in his partnership with the Hornets, league sources told RealGM.
Four to five NBA teams have shown an interest to the Hornets on Stephenson, but no deal is imminent, Stephenson has made clear his desire to help propel a turnaround and both sides believe there’s still time to salvage a productive relationship and run with the franchise, sources told RealGM.
Four to five teams want Stephenson because in a lesser role, he could work for a team. He’s a good facilitator and by no means is he a star but he does perform well when the pressure is off him. Look at last season with the Indiana Pacers, people wanted him in the All-Star game for his early season performance. Well, this calls for a trip to the trade machine on ESPN.com. Let’s check out how a deal between the Hornets and Nets would work.
Well, cant “technically” trade Stephenson until December 15th, due to the fact that he was signed as a restricted free agent in the 0ffseason. But Salary-wise, I don’t see a scenario where Stephenson can be traded there straight up. Add a third team though?
There is a scenario, where in a world that all 3 teams want value in the deal, there’s a trade scenario where the following does happen, involving a recent Brooklyn Nets trade partner, the Philadelphia 76ers.
You’ll have to send Lance Stephenson and Sixers rookie forward Jerami Grant to the Nets, Guards Bojan Bogdanovic and Tony Wroten to the Hornets and the Sixers acquire All-Star Joe Johnson and rookie guard, P.J. Hairston. Now whether the Sixers are actually in tank mode or not will affect if this trade would go down but, in the meantime, we can all live in fantasy land.
