Saturday Slam: Will Lance Stephenson ever find a permanent home?

     After leveraging a breakout season with the Indiana Pacers into a three-year, $27M contract with the Charlotte Hornets in the summer of 2014, Lance Stephenson is now playing for his third team in less than two seasons. He was deemed a distraction while with the Hornets and evidently was creating problems for the Los Angeles Clippers, who just traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jeff Green.
   
     We all knew that Lance Stephenson was somewhat of a head case back when he was with the Pacers. I think him blowing into the ear of LeBron James confirmed that to us, but even amid those silly antics, we still thought of him as a talented head case who could make an impact on any team in the NBA due to his size, defense, and ability to slash to the rim.

     However, the numbers say otherwise. After averaging 13.8 points per game in the 2013-14 season with the Pacers, his scoring averaged dipped to 8.2 points per game with the Hornets last season, and 4.7 points per game with the Clippers this season before being shipped off to Memphis. Interestingly enough, his per 36 minutes numbers haven't dipped that much (14.1 points per game to 10.8 points per game), but what has dipped significantly has been his time on the court (35.3 minutes per game with the Pacers in 2013-14 to 15.8 minutes per game with the Clippers this season).

     What this seems to indicate is that the Indiana Pacers knew how to utilize his talents in ways that no other team has been able to figure out. In Indiana, he was the benefactor of a system that utilized his talents and to his credit, he was good for their system as well. He was a very good player for the Pacers and absolutely deserved all the positive attention that he was getting. Sadly, it now appears likely that he won't ever find that same level of success in a different city. Indiana was great for him and he was great for Indiana.

     So, with that all likely being true, does this mean that Lance Stephenson's only path to success is returning to the Pacers? The answer is maybe and ironically, he'd probably have to return at a discount rate due to his recent struggles. What hasn't helped him is that certainly in Charlotte and even in Los Angeles, he was expected to be a star player who could take over games and help his team make serious noise in the playoffs. It's entirely possible that what he was in Indiana, which was a very good role player, is all that he really is and these other teams have been expecting too much from him.

     What is certainly true is that he doesn't have the right mentality to be a star and he is better off being the third or fourth option behind more experienced and talented veterans. Interestingly enough, Memphis creates such an environment for him. The Grizzlies rely on Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley to be their leaders and Lance Stephenson will be asked to provide an extra boost and support, similar to what he was expected to do for the Pacers.

      Much like the Pacers teams that Stephenson was apart of, the Grizzlies win by playing stingy defense and crashing the glass. It's entirely possible that Lance Stephenson returns to form in Memphis and embraces his role as something similar to what he had in Indiana. He has the pieces to make an impact in Memphis, but he'll have to get his mind right and be willing to be a role player as opposed to being a star. If can re-embrace the role player identity, he very well may find his groove again on Beale Street. If he can't re-embrace this identity, odds are good he'll be playing for yet another team in the 2016-17 season with one foot out the door.