Rumors abound that Lance Stephenson could potentially land with the New Orleans Pelicans next season as the team is reportedly working out with the free agent wingman.
The New Orleans Advocate reported that although the Pelicans already have 18 players under contract with 15 of them owning guaranteed deals for the upcoming season, the club still "took a look" at the 25-year-old Memphis Grizzlies outcast, recently conducting a work out session with him.
Stephenson played in 26 games for the Grizzlies last season, actually averaging a career-high 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 26.6 minutes of playing time per night, after the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to Memphis along with a future first-round pick for Jeff Green during last February's trade deadline.
He played his first 43 games last season with the Clippers, where he was virtually underutilized by head coach Doc Rivers suiting up in only 15.8 minutes a game and had averaged 4.7 points, 2.5 boards, and 1.4 dimes in a Chris Paul-Blake Griffin-dominated system.
Despite his good numbers in Memphis, the club chose not to sign him with a contract this summer, thus leaving him still an unrestricted free agent this late in the offseason.
The report noted that the six-year pro's repute as a "difficult player who can agitate both opponents and teammates" is perhaps the reason why teams are wary of signing him for the next season. He notoriously had a fist fight with then-Indiana Pacers teammate Evan Turner before a postseason game back in 2014 and was also caught on camera blowing LeBron James' ear in a playoff contest in that same year, something which Pacers president Larry Bird opined then as "bothering".
ESPN indicated that rumors spread out last week that Stephenson might join the New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets following his social media post that showed a black and white photo of him holding a basketball in a casual wardrobe with the caption "Dreams come true".
The article also said that if ever the Pelicans would decide to sign the former Cincinnati standout, then it would most certainly be an unguaranteed contract similar to what Chris Copeland, Shawn Dawson, and Robert Sacre had recently received from the club.
