Lance takes his talents to North Carolina and joins MJ’s Charlotte Hornets.
Prior to the NBA Off-Season, Lance Stephenson had one of the more memorable playoff series in recent years against the Miami Heat. Following his antics of trying to get under the Heat’s skin lead to his stock slipping some this summer, but Michael Jordan didn’t feel that way.
With Paul George unsure whether he wanted Lance back on Indiana, we could sense Lance’s tenure with the team could be coming to an end. Larry Bird made it a priority to re-sign Stephenson this off-season to a 5-year, $44 Million deal, to lock him up long-term.
However, Lance wanted a shorter term deal, which Indiana management was uncomfortable giving for their insurance long-term, which led to him leaving the team late last night. Charlotte was unsuccessful in landing free agent Gordon Hayward, after signing him to a four-year offer sheet contract, but seriously upgrade their team with the signing of the Brooklyn native.
Sources: Lance Stephenson accepts 3 yr, $27 million deal with Charlotte
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 16, 2014
He now joins Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker in Charlotte who will embrace him with open arms. He’s obviously taking a huge risk financially with less money for the Bobcats, but he’ll be 27 in years and is confident of landing a max-deal for the cusp of his peak years. The East is now officially up for grabs, with the balance of power officially thrown out the window.
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