Lance Stephenson likely to keep coming off bench all season
It's not about your five best, it's about your best five.
That's why - despite paying Lance Stephenson $9 million this season - the Charlotte Hornets continue to use him off the bench. When the mercurial Stephenson returned from a 14-game absence on Jan. 14, that made sense, given the lineup's construction.
“It’s better for both Kemba (Walker) and Lance that way,” head coach Steve Clifford told Grantland's Zach Lowe. “To play the way we want them to play, they both need to be the primary ball handler.”
When Walker went down with a torn meniscus that will sideline him for six weeks, it appeared Stephenson may find his way back into the starting lineup. The team is thin at the point, and Stephenson handles the ball often and well enough to masquerade as a make-shift one.
That hasn't been the case. The Hornets have turned the reigns over to Brian Roberts, keeping Stephenson in a reserve role that appears to be his lot for the remainder of the season. Part of that is because Stephenson continues to struggle, but it also makes sense to have a ball-dominant off-guard who can theoretically carry a scoring load prop up the second unit.
| Stephenson | Pre-Injury | Post-Injury |
|---|---|---|
| MPG | 32.8 | 24.3 |
| PPG | 10.2 | 7.2 |
| RPG | 6.8 | 3.3 |
| APG | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| TS% | 42.4% | 37.9% |
The more pressing factor is the current starting wing duo of Gerald Henderson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, which has been fantastic. While the lack of shooting between them seems to make an odd pairing, the Hornets have outscored opponents by 10.5 points per-100 possessions in the 552 minutes they've played together.
So long as the team is comfortable starting Roberts in Walker's stead, there's no call to start Stephenson at the expense of Henderson or Kidd-Gilchrist. That will hold even firmer when Walker returns, and so Stephenson may be waiting until next season to reclaim a starting job that appeared to be his when he put pen to paper in July.