Where Might Lance Land?

Will someone take a chance on Lance, or are the Hornets stuck with him?

Though Rajon Rondo trade rumors sent ripples through the Twitter-sphere and Lance Stephenson suffered a groin injury that forced him out of the game during the Hornets’ fourth straight loss on Wednesday, on Thursday morning at 1:53 am EST Adrian Wojnarowski provided the latest Stephenson scuttlebutt, tweeting that Stephenson’s trade market “continues to be lean for Charlotte,” and “Talks with Indiana yet to gain traction.”

Wojnarowski had recently reported that the Hornets were targeting Brooklyn and Indiana as places to dump Stephenson, with Indy insisting, though unsuccessfully, that first-round picks be included in any deal. We already learned last week that four to five teams had called Charlotte about Stephenson, but despite the Hornets’ continued struggles (6-19, 2-8 in last 10) they have reportedly been unwilling to throw in a first-round pick, and can you blame them? Stephenson has not been good this season. In fact, by many measures he’s been down right awful. Still, it makes sense that the Hornets are refusing to trade a first-round pick in order to move Lance, who might flourish elsewhere (or even in Charlotte, eventually). While most good teams likely wouldn’t bother disrupting their chemistry, there are a few deals out there that would seem to make sense for both parties:

Indiana may be hesitant to jump back into bed with a player who was a part of the locker room problems they had last year, and who burned them in free agency a few short months ago. It’d be wild to see Stephenson go back to the Pacers so soon, but I don’t see Indy giving up much even if they decide they really would like him back.

If the Hornets would accept a package of Ian Mahinmi, Chris Copeland and Rodney Stuckey, the Pacers might be willing. Mahinmi would provide a defensive presence off the bench once he returns from a torn plantar fascia (6-8 weeks), and is only on the books through the end of next season. Copeland has fallen out of the Pacers’ rotation lately, but his willingness to let it fly from deep might make him a solid reserve contributor for Indy; and Stuckey would help in replacing Stephenson’s ball handling and play making.

For the Pacers, they wouldn’t be giving up much—two guys on one-year deals and a big man who is currently injured. However, ultimately I have a hard time believing Larry Bird is prepared to re-unite Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson.

Instead, the Brooklyn Nets seem like a much more realistic destination. A deal with the Nets might look something like this:

Brooklyn gets Stephenson, Gerald Henderson and Gary Neal in exchange for Joe Johnson and Markel Brown. Born in Brooklyn, Stephenson would  have to be pumped to provide the perimeter defense that is severely lacking there. Meanwhile providing another ball handler would take the pressure off of the already oft-injured Deron Williams to create offense all the time. The Hornets would be forced to play P.J. Hairston and Jeff Taylor a little more than they may like, and Marvin Williams might have to slide over to small forward some, but Johnson just seems like a significantly better fit on this Hornets team than Stephenson does.

And for fun I’ve also included a four-team-trade that might do some nice things for each team involved.

Charlotte gets: Joe Johnson, Jason Thompson, Markel Brown

Brooklyn gets: Stephenson, Carl Landry, Gerald Henderson

Sacramento gets: Josh Smith, Jeff Taylor, Tony Mitchell.

Detroit gets: Derrick Williams, Bismack Biyombo, Noah Vonleh, P.J. Hairston

In this scenario, Jason Thompson would help negate the loss of Bismack Biyombo defensively and presumably play quality minutes in a deep frontcourt featuring Al Jefferson and Cody Zeller. Thompson is extremely underrated defensively, and if the Hornets could nab him and Joe Johnson, they’d probably have no choice but to pull the trigger. Landry and Henderson are both solid bench players, and Stephenson has enough upside that Billy King might take a swing. Sacramento’s ties to Josh Smith in the rumor mill are never-ending so I figured may as well give the people what they want, and Detroit would receive two players with expiring contracts and two rookies. What more could the Pistons ask for in exchange for the right to unload Smith than cheap young talent and future cap flexibility?

Since the Hornets have expressed a lack of willingness to trade future first-round picks, it’s possible that they’d  be opposed to trading Noah Vonleh or P.J. Hairston, but at this point I haven’t seen anything from either of them that would make them untouchable. Unless Big Al is no longer part of the long-term plans in Charlotte, these three trades would figure to help the Hornets get back into the fight for the playoffs without damaging the flexibility and future of the franchise. Though no Stephenson trade is imminent, a deal seems more and more likely with every single sting of defeat.