Stephenson signs with Charlotte

[mgent]

Lance will see the ball twice as much in Charlotte than he did in Indy.  He should have no problem averaging around 20 points along with 5-6 assists and rebounds.  With his defense that would definitely get him a max contract.

This doesn't overly shock me after he deliberately disobeyed Larry's orders and hit LeBron in the face.

[D.o.s.]

Lance will see the ball twice as much in Charlotte than he did in Indy.  He should have no problem averaging around 20 points along with 5-6 assists and rebounds.  With his defense that would definitely get him a max contract.

This doesn't overly shock me after he deliberately disobeyed Larry's orders and hit LeBron in the face.

This always makes me laugh, because we all know Bird would never have hit anyone when he was playing.

[Fafnir]

Lance will see the ball twice as much in Charlotte than he did in Indy.  He should have no problem averaging around 20 points along with 5-6 assists and rebounds.  With his defense that would definitely get him a max contract.

This doesn't overly shock me after he deliberately disobeyed Larry's orders and hit LeBron in the face.

This always makes me laugh, because we all know Bird would never have hit anyone when he was playing.

Yeah he'd wait till they were in the bar after the game!

[D.o.s.]

BREAKING: Pacers Trade For Larry Sanders

[cltc5]

9 mil!?!?! And were paying AB 8?!?! I'm shaking my head so much I had to call off work. I'm throwing up. We need players like Lance. Playmakers. and to know he only went for a million more than AB makes it even worse.

Locker room stuff matters.  A lot of teams don't want to take a chance on bad character with a high-priced free agent, because it's harder to fix if the rumors are all true.  A cheap player, sure, you can cut him easily.

But also, Bradley makes $15 million over the next two seasons, while Lance makes $18 million.  That's 20% more.  And if Lance is as wonderful a bargain as you think he is, and he may be, he'll make a lot more from 2016-2018, when Bradley is scheduled to make $17 million.  If he puts the locker room antics behind himself, Lance should probably wind up making on average $3-4 million more per season over the 4 years of Bradley's contract, or near 50% more.  If he doesn't, it's because NBA teams just don't think he's worth the trouble.

In a professional league, lockeroom stuff SHOULD NOT matter.  It's what the guy does on the court.  If he's a headache in the lockerroom but and star on the court, people need to get over it.  They are all professionals and shouldnt be coddled becasue someone rubs them the wrong way.  I would have rather had Lance over Bradley.  Terrible decision by Ainge.

I'm sorry, but that's just naive.  If a player isn't professional off the court, that's going to detract from practices, film sessions, game plans and the like.  Basketball is very much a team sport -- you need everyone on the same page.

Furthermore, when that player has a history of sexual assault and domestic violence, you run further risk.  Look, I think Charlotte got a good deal, but there's a reason NBA teams (and their army of private investigators) weren't tripping over each other to sign the guy.  Charlotte gets a potential discount for two years, while Lance gets a chance to show everyone he's matured, before striking it huge in 2016 (he'll get Carmelo money if he grows up.)

It's not naive, it's reality.  It happens everywhere, people, businesses, teams have to work with problem people all the time.  It's up to management to make it work.  Teams choose not to sign these players becasue they dont want the responsibility of dealing with the issues of managing, which is understandable, but at what cost.  At what point do you allow stars that could make your team significantly better, but have issues, a chance to mature and grow within your lockeroom.  They're not cliques, they're teams and you embrace who you have and work together accordingly.  People around here act like the Celtics are made of alter boys.  Let's cut the crap, they have their skeletons too.  Maybe we shoulda wiffed on Smart becasue he beat up a fan, or maybe get rid of Sully becasue he beat up his GF.  Point is, in the game of basletball, you should be measured by what you do on the court, not what you do off it.  And I'm not saying off court stuff isnt important, but it should not be a perennial deciding factor.

[Endless Paradise]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

He'd be locked in right to the start of his prime at their desired rate instead of having to possibly pay him even more in another three years.

Dumb move by Indiana, though.  They're now firmly entrenched in the middle of the pack.

[Donoghus]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

He'd be locked in right to the start of his prime at their desired rate instead of having to possibly pay him even more in another three years.

Dumb move by Indiana, though.  They're now firmly entrenched in the middle of the pack.

East is so wide open right now, though.  It's not a death knell.  I see 5-6 solid teams but no one has separated themselves from the pack yet, IMO

[Boris Badenov]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

I was reading something (in the context of Lebron's wanting a shorter deal) saying that everyone's looking ahead to the next TV deal - which is slated for 2016. If the expectation is that the contract will substantially bump up the salary cap (because of revenue sharing), then teams should prefer longer contracts and players should prefer shorter ones right now. There's also a view that the next CBA (also set to be negotiated in 2017) could be more player-favorable.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11207703/lebron-james-deal-cleveland-cavaliers-2-years-421-million

If true it's very interesting, because it flips the normal situation around. Usually teams prefer shorter deals to longer deals (holding the annual salary the same). And vice versa for players.

[Fafnir]

Given that they don't have much future flexibility even letting Lance go I still don't see why they wouldn't offer the same deal as Charlotte.

Makes me think Bird is looking to blow up the team with a bigger move.

[Endless Paradise]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

He'd be locked in right to the start of his prime at their desired rate instead of having to possibly pay him even more in another three years.

Dumb move by Indiana, though.  They're now firmly entrenched in the middle of the pack.

East is so wide open right now, though.  It's not a death knell.  I see 5-6 solid teams but no one has separated themselves from the pack yet, IMO

I know -- but they could've put themselves right up there with Chicago, but now they're honestly no better than I expect Miami or Toronto to be.

[puskas54_10]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

I think LS had enough of it in Indiana. I wrote about it in this thread. He did not get the respect from Indiana, at least he's thinking.
It's kinda similar when Ray wanted 3 year 9M per and Ainge lowballed him him with 2 year
6 M per. Ray thought he deserve more from the celtics for what he did for them. Just see how Kobe got 25M per for practically being an injury plagued shadow of himself.

[kozlodoev]

I don't see why a 5 year deal at a bargain rate is something you'd want but a similar 3 year bargain contract wouldn't be desirable.

I think LS had enough of it in Indiana. I wrote about it in this thread. He did not get the respect from Indiana, at least he's thinking.
It's kinda similar when Ray wanted 3 year 9M per and Ainge lowballed him him with 2 year
6 M per. Ray thought he deserve more from the celtics for what he did for them. Just see how Kobe got 25M per for practically being an injury plagued shadow of himself.

Yeah, Ainge "lowballed" Ray Allen so badly that Ray ended up signing for even less. This nonsense has to stop.

[puskas54_10]

Given that they don't have much future flexibility even letting Lance go I still don't see why they wouldn't offer the same deal as Charlotte.

Makes me think Bird is looking to blow up the team with a bigger move.

I think Bird made terrible moves in the last two seasons. Not one of his moves paid off.
If he's not Larry Bird he would be fired.

[Snakehead]

Given that they don't have much future flexibility even letting Lance go I still don't see why they wouldn't offer the same deal as Charlotte.

Makes me think Bird is looking to blow up the team with a bigger move.

He might not love Lance.

In my mind, the team badly needs a real PG and George Hill isn't the answer.  I can understand not wanting to commit to Lance and instead going that direction.

[chambers]

What a bargain.
Unbelievable.
He's the same price as Jeff Green, about 30% better than Avery Bradley and only 11% more.
What a crock.