Lance Stephenson Has Played With Lakers' LeBron James And Other Stars, So How Would He Look Next To Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Former Indiana Pacers star Lance Stephenson had a workout in front of NBA teams on Friday, and the workout was first reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo! (see Tweet below).
Adam Zagoria of Forbes also reported on the workout (read article here) and see Tweet below.
Both Zagoria and Haynes reported on several teams being there or expected to attend, and one of them was the 2021 NBA Champion Bucks.
The Bucks just beat the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals last month, and are led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Stephenson has played with superstars like Paul George, Chris Paul and LeBron James.
In fact, his last season in the NBA he averaged 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Los Angeles Lakers with James.
How would Stephenson fit with Antetokounmpo on the Bucks?
The Bucks excel with sharpshooting around Antetokounmpo (Kris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis etc.).
Stephenson has never been a good shooter.
He has career averages of 31.5% shooting from the three-point range.
Not good.
That being said, he would fit in with his energy and aggressiveness.
They just lost P.J. Tucker to the Miami Heat (Stephenson could fill a role similar).
The Heat's Team President Pat Riley spoke about the addition of Tucker to the Heat and what he said can be seen in a Tweet embedded below from Ira Winerman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Could Stephenson fill a role like that on the Bucks that is now void?
He is worse than Tucker in every category, but he can defend and bring energy that fires up a crowd in a similar way.
Even playing with other superstars over his career that has seen him play 508 games for the Pacers, Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets, he's always stuffed the stat sheet.
Scoring is one thing, but he has always been a guy who can get rebounds and dish out assists.
Playing with Paul George in 2014, he averaged 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists. In 2015, with Kemba Walker, he averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists and playing with James in 2019 in limited minutes, he still averaged 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
Would he be an ideal fit as a 30 year old non-shooter on the Bucks?
Probably not.
Could he help the Bucks defend their NBA title?
Definitely.
