Can Lance Stephenson turn his season around? (Getty)
RealGM reports that "four-to-five" teams have reached out to the Charlotte Hornets about struggling guard/forward Lance Stephenson who the team signed to a 3-year, $20.4 million deal, but the Hornets are holding off on progressing talks, for now.
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.
via Lance Stephenson Receiving Trade Interest But Hopes To Remain Part Of Hornets Turnaround - RealGM Wiretap.
The Hornets are 2-1 and that's way too soon to know if they're actually playing better, considering they have wins over the Knicks and Celtics, but there are some positive signs with Stephenson's play. He's starting to understand the Hornet's spacing and how to find them. Here are a few assists that show what I'm talking about.
He's improving where he needs to, particularly as someone that makes offense better for others and creates on his own (46 percent shooting in the past three games), but the Lottery Mafia points out a key problem between he and guard Kemba Walker this season.
Stephenson is playing nearly identical minutes to his banner year of 2013-14, and he has seen an increase in his assists per game (now up to 5.3), a career high. But, in spite of this uptick in assists, Stephenson is not converting with Walker at a nearly catastrophic rate. Lance is passing to Kemba 30.4 percent of the time, an average of 14.8 passes per game, but only netting 0.7 assists for his efforts. Likewise, Walker is sending a staggering 41.8 percent of the passes that Lance receives, while generating a terrifyingly low 0.4 assists per NBA.com. Stephenson and Walker are leaving a lot of assists, points and wins on the floor.
via Lottery Player Profile: Lance Stephenson | The Lottery Mafia.
So there's a lot of work to be done, but there are also encouraging signs. If another major dip comes and the Hornets don't stop the bleeding soon, management will have to look for a significant move. They can't squander the momentum of last year with a disastrous season.
Basketball Hot News
Sixers coach Brett Brown not happy to lose Brandon Davies in trade with Nets
The trade between the Nets and the Sixers involving Andrei Kirilenko became official on Thursday, but since Kirilenko is expected to be waived by Philadelphia, the deal only exchanged Brandon Davies for Jorge Gutierrez, cash considerations, and low level future draft picks.
And Sixers coach Brett Brown is less than thrilled with how it all shook out.
While Philadelphia is tanking from a front office perspective this season, Brown liked what he was getting from Davies in practice on a day-to-day basis. He was sorry to see him go, and lamented the human side of these deals when speaking to reporters after the dust had settled.
From Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com:
“When you start losing people that you are very fond of and have tremendous respect for … there is a human side of it that bothers me because you are trying to grow chemistry, you are trying to grow a culture,” Brown said after Thursday’s practice.
“That takes a hit when teammates lose teammates. There is a respect, effort-wise, of how they go about their business. There is a reality to our job that is just business in the NBA, but it doesn’t mean it has to feel right.” …
“It is a tremendous challenge to keep the locker room together if they lose a teammate or friend. It is a tremendous challenge to have a semblance of order or purpose on offense or with rules on defense. It is just such a volatile situation at times.”
Davies isn’t exactly a household name, but he appeared in 20 of his team’s 21 games this season, and averaged 19 minutes per contest.
Brown’s challenge this season, more than anything, is to keep locker room spirits high amidst all of the losing. If Davies is as valued there as Brown makes it seem, his job just got that much harder, at least in the immediate future.
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