Getty Lance Stephenson of the Los Angeles Lakers poses for the fans after hitting a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center on October 27, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas.
For Nets general manager Sean Marks, the roster tweaking and tinkering never stops — not when Brooklyn has eyes on making a championship run next season.
And even though the Nets currently have a full roster, Marks still will do his due diligence if he thinks there could be a fit between his team and a free agent.
That appears to be what’s happening now.
Free agent guard Lance Stephenson held a private workout Friday morning in Las Vegas in front of personnel from various NBA teams, according to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. Representatives from the Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers were expected to attend Stephenson’s workout, Haynes reported.
Free agent guard Lance Stephenson will hold a private workout this morning in Las Vegas in front of NBA personnel with reps from Milwaukee, Denver, Philadelphia and Brooklyn among those expected to attend, league sources tell @YahooSports.
It’s an intriguing development for a few reasons.
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Stephenson Was out of the League Last Season
It’s hard to believe Stephenson is still only 30 years old.
The 6-foot-6 Brooklyn native was drafted in the second round of the 2010 NBA draft and proceeded to play for eight different NBA teams between 2010 and 2019. Stephenson, with his unusual, unpredictable and unfiltered style, packed a heap of storylines into that journey, from his ever-entertaining relationship with LeBron James, to finishing second in the NBA Most Improved Player Award voting in 2013-14, to a long list of absurd moments that can be found here.
The question for Marks is if Stephenson can make the Nets better now.
Stephenson last played in an NBA game in April 2019, when he was suiting up for LeBron’s Lakers. But a toe injury prevented him from having much of an impact down the stretch of that season, and he finished the year averaging 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.6 steals in 16.5 minutes per game. Those numbers aren’t far off from the 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.7 steals he has averaged in 23.4 minutes over 508 games (199 starts) in his NBA career.
But speaking of his NBA career, it was put on hold in August 2019, when Stephenson signed with the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association. A few months later, in September 2019, Stephenson led the Leopards to a 83–82 title win at the 2019 East Asia Super League Terrific 12 and was named the MVP of the tournament.
But that was in the CBA. And that was now about two years ago.
How much does Stephenson have left to offer? That’s what the Nets will be looking to see during Stephenson’s workout in Vegas. But, again, with an already full roster, the journeyman guard has an uphill battle if he wants to wind up on his hometown Nets.
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Marks Setting the Bar High
Despite having one of the best trio of players ever assembled on a single NBA roster in Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, the Nets took an early exit from last season’s playoffs. Injuries were their undoing as they fell in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, who went on to win the championship.
Heading into 2021-22, Marks said the team has unfinished business.
“Without a doubt. A hundred percent. We talk about it a lot,” Marks said earlier this week during a media session, per NBA.com. “We acknowledge it. We have honest conversations about it. It’s really important not to shy away from that. Let’s call it what it is. We all know what our aspirations here are, what we’re gunning for, what the goal here at the end of it is. And to have a group of 15 guys that are in alignment and there’s really, hopefully, nothing that’s going to stand in our way – there’s no individual pressures and so forth – this is about a team of not only players but the staff that are all pushing in the same direction for that ultimate goal. We know there’s unfinished business here, and we hope that we can get there. That’s certainly the plan.”
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