This time last year, Lance Stephenson was supposed to be the Charlotte Hornets' missing piece. Now a member of the Los Angeles Clippers after an offseason trade, the guard feels he didn't get the chance to be the "star" he was supposed to be with the Hornets, via the Orange County Register's Dan Woike:
Lance on being cast as a star in CHA "“I was just sitting in the corner. That’s not trying to be a star. A star normally gets the ball."
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 12, 2015
No one in Charlotte is going to be thrilled about this. Stephenson had a 21.1 percent usage rate last season, which was higher than it was with the Indiana Pacers, and the more numbers you look at, the worse his one-year Hornets stint looks. Stephenson had an 8.8 PER, and he shot 37.6 percent from the field, 19.1 percent from 3-point range and 62.7 percent from the free-throw line. Regardless of his role, he performed extremely poorly.
Stephenson is right that he wasn't treated like a "star" -- Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford said early last season that he had a long way to go in that regard. Point guard Kemba Walker and center Al Jefferson were the two top options there. Stephenson shot 18 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts and, when he did try to create, bad things usually happened.
With the Clippers, Stephenson wlil again have to deal with standing on the perimeter and playing off other players. He will be given the opportunity to make plays, but he can't be the focal point. With Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford on the roster, Stephenson is going to be challenged to do what he couldn't do with the Hornets: fit in.
