Lance Stephenson

 1. The Clippers have a team culture of whining and flopping on the court. Lance’s "behavior" will only get worse there. The question is, will his production overshadow the unavoiable incidences Lance will cause on the court?

2. Crawford is the perfect player for the Bulls to pick up. Trade an aging Taj for an aging Jamal and then draft whatever power forward falls to them in the draft.

3. How is this team going to compete for a ship with no decent small forward? Do you think they need to add another player, or is what they have now enough? Who guards Kawaii and KD?

 1. The Clippers have a team culture of whining and flopping on the court. Lance’s "behavior" will only get worse there. The question is, will his production overshadow the unavoiable incidences Lance will cause on the court?

2. Crawford is the perfect player for the Bulls to pick up. Trade an aging Taj for an aging Jamal and then draft whatever power forward falls to them in the draft.

3. How is this team going to compete for a ship with no decent small forward? Do you think they need to add another player, or is what they have now enough? Who guards Kawaii and KD?

 That Taj for Crawford deal actually makes a lot of sense for both clubs. As a wolves fan I’ve been hoping we’d explore dealing Martin for Gibson, but that would help the Clips a lot and the Bulls would come out ahead I think as well. 

I don’t know where this "strong locker room" comes from regarding the Clippers. I love Chris Paul, but who else constitutes as a leader? Doc is a fraud and complains about everything under the sun. Griffin, Jordan, Redick, good players and they aren’t problem guys, but they aren’t exactly leaders either. 

I think it can be a good move, but I agree the Clips need a SF with some size. The teams they have to get through has stud scoring big wings in Durant, Harden, Kawhi and Klay to an extent. 

 That Taj for Crawford deal actually makes a lot of sense for both clubs. As a wolves fan I’ve been hoping we’d explore dealing Martin for Gibson, but that would help the Clips a lot and the Bulls would come out ahead I think as well. 

I don’t know where this "strong locker room" comes from regarding the Clippers. I love Chris Paul, but who else constitutes as a leader? Doc is a fraud and complains about everything under the sun. Griffin, Jordan, Redick, good players and they aren’t problem guys, but they aren’t exactly leaders either. 

I think it can be a good move, but I agree the Clips need a SF with some size. The teams they have to get through has stud scoring big wings in Durant, Harden, Kawhi and Klay to an extent. 

 I think there best move would be to trade Jamal Crawford for a big like Amir Johnson or Taj Gibson to help there front court depth problems. Then I have a strong feeling Paul Pierce will end up signing with the Clippers and finishing his career there. If Paul Pierce ends up not working out, then what about a Wesley Johnson for the wing depth, give them a young athletic wing who is a decent defender. 

 I think there best move would be to trade Jamal Crawford for a big like Amir Johnson or Taj Gibson to help there front court depth problems. Then I have a strong feeling Paul Pierce will end up signing with the Clippers and finishing his career there. If Paul Pierce ends up not working out, then what about a Wesley Johnson for the wing depth, give them a young athletic wing who is a decent defender. 

 All I ever hear is that the Clippers lack toughness, they were up 3-1 in the second round of the playoffs, up 20 something in the fourth quarter in game 6 and found a way to lose. I hear about their players feuding. That may not all be true, but typically where there is smoke, there is at least a semblance of fire. 

None of those things indicate to me that they have a "strong" locker room. 

I don’t see Rivers as a great coach. I think he’s the most overrated coach in the league, a fraud and I think they are taking on a player that few in the NBA seem to understand. There’s risk there. It could work out really well because Stephenson has talent…not as much as he thinks he has but he can be a good player. 

Bottom line, the Clips needed to make tweaks and they’ve made one. If they are done (assuming they retain Jordan) I don’t see them being any different than they’ve been the last 3 or 4 years.

 All I ever hear is that the Clippers lack toughness, they were up 3-1 in the second round of the playoffs, up 20 something in the fourth quarter in game 6 and found a way to lose. I hear about their players feuding. That may not all be true, but typically where there is smoke, there is at least a semblance of fire. 

None of those things indicate to me that they have a "strong" locker room. 

I don’t see Rivers as a great coach. I think he’s the most overrated coach in the league, a fraud and I think they are taking on a player that few in the NBA seem to understand. There’s risk there. It could work out really well because Stephenson has talent…not as much as he thinks he has but he can be a good player. 

Bottom line, the Clips needed to make tweaks and they’ve made one. If they are done (assuming they retain Jordan) I don’t see them being any different than they’ve been the last 3 or 4 years.

 Great move by clippers, having lance instead of jamal really improve their team, lance in the right place is great facilitator, lance and improving austin leading together the second unit will be great…

 Great move by clippers, having lance instead of jamal really improve their team, lance in the right place is great facilitator, lance and improving austin leading together the second unit will be great…

Larry Bird was the best thing to ever happen to Lance Stephenson. He was a headcase at Cincy and was lucky to be drafted. He was in the perfect situation in Indy and had strong veteran leadership around him so he flourished. I’m sure Larry had a chat with Lance once he was drafted and laid it out to him what it meant to be a Pacer and what was expected of him. I was worried that once he left Indy and got to Charlotte he would have a horrific season. A young team with little veteran leadership and Lance played awful. I mean Lance is an immature brat, but he can flourish if he has a strong presence in his ear reminding him that he is a good ball player who needs to concentrate on playing ball and being the best teammate he can be. He didn’t have that in Charlotte and he suffered for it.

Larry Bird was the best thing to ever happen to Lance Stephenson. He was a headcase at Cincy and was lucky to be drafted. He was in the perfect situation in Indy and had strong veteran leadership around him so he flourished. I’m sure Larry had a chat with Lance once he was drafted and laid it out to him what it meant to be a Pacer and what was expected of him. I was worried that once he left Indy and got to Charlotte he would have a horrific season. A young team with little veteran leadership and Lance played awful. I mean Lance is an immature brat, but he can flourish if he has a strong presence in his ear reminding him that he is a good ball player who needs to concentrate on playing ball and being the best teammate he can be. He didn’t have that in Charlotte and he suffered for it.

Lance is a low risk move for the Clippers and from a financial standpoint was a great trade for them because they got rid of Spencer Hawes bad contract after he flopped for them last year. Matt Barnes gave the Clippers some toughness, which they needed, but they def. were going to need to upgrade at SF even if they kept him, which they still plan on doing. They plan on playing Stephenson off the bench at the 1, 2, 3 spots and have him be the primary ball handler when Chris Paul is out of the game, which is a huge upgrade over Austin Rivers. Clippers were going to be shopping Jamaal Crawford before this trade happened to try to get younger off the bench so if they are getting rid of Jamaal this trade makes even more sense. One deal I have seen is Crawford and CJ Miles for Wilson Chandler. Stephenson and Chandler is a big upgrade long term over Barnes and Crawford.

Lance is a low risk move for the Clippers and from a financial standpoint was a great trade for them because they got rid of Spencer Hawes bad contract after he flopped for them last year. Matt Barnes gave the Clippers some toughness, which they needed, but they def. were going to need to upgrade at SF even if they kept him, which they still plan on doing. They plan on playing Stephenson off the bench at the 1, 2, 3 spots and have him be the primary ball handler when Chris Paul is out of the game, which is a huge upgrade over Austin Rivers. Clippers were going to be shopping Jamaal Crawford before this trade happened to try to get younger off the bench so if they are getting rid of Jamaal this trade makes even more sense. One deal I have seen is Crawford and CJ Miles for Wilson Chandler. Stephenson and Chandler is a big upgrade long term over Barnes and Crawford.