Stephenson actually played a lot better once he landed in Memphis. I'm surprised they didn't want him back because a $9 million dollar contract with the rising cap is a bargain for someone like Stephenson. Unless of course they are re-building, in which case, I'm thrilled if they are doing that for obvious reasons.
Seriously though, if Stephenson goes back to Indiana, that could make them an even scarier team than they already are. They've had the best off-season so far.
Idk about that. Knowing how the draft played out with this latest piece of information regarding Stephenson makes me wonder if they would have been better off trading George Hill for 12 from Utah, taking Demetrius Jackson, there, using 20 on Levert, 50 on Bentil, and signing GP II, Sheldon McClellan, Danuel House, Georges Niang, Yogi Ferrell, and Daniel Ochefu, let their free agents in Jordan Hill and Ian Mahinmi, trade Ellis for Afflalo, get Stephenson back, and they're ready to go, now and for the future.
Starting lineup -
Ochefu
Turner
George
Afflalo
Stephenson
Bench -
Levert
Jackson
GP II
Joe Young
Yogi
Niang
McClellan
House
Bentil
Uthoff
Obviously, they'd need another big guy off the bench, so maybe put Turner at center and Bentil/Niang at the 4 spot? Would they be interested in Hibbert returning? Probably not, lol, but if he did, a lineup of Hibbert, Turner, George, Afflalo, and Stephenson would prove to be quite a problem for the Cavs, imo, and that's not even factoring in the play of their new and improved bench. Oh well.