I like Stephenson because I think he brings a better all around game than Hayward and Bradley. I also think he has the potential to be the 2nd leading scorer on a playoff team but still bring 4-6 rebounds and assists per night. Call me crazy but I think he could have a Paul George like jump after this year.
Honest, I think he is already about on par with Paul George, and has a higher ceiling, at least offensively.
Paul George's per game line: ~22pts/6reb/3assists/2steals.
Lance's per game line: ~14pts/8reb/5assists/1steal.
So just looking at the raw numbers, Paul George scores more and is a little better at grabbing steals (i.e. better defender), but Lance has a pretty strong edge in rebounding and passing. They both turn the ball over at the same rate (literally, both are at 2.7 per game).
Okay, so let's look at their shooting stats.
Paul George: 43.2% fg, 37.2% from 3, 86.6% from the line.
Lance: 49.6% fg, 33.5% from 3, 70.3% from the line.
Paul George takes 17 field goal attempts per game (6 of them 3s), plus 6 free throw attempts.
Lance takes 11 field goal attempts per game (3 of them 3s), plus 3 free throw attempts.
They each play approximately the same number of minutes. So Paul George is better from 3 and from the line. Lance is better from 2 (in face, he shoots well over 50% if you discount his 3 point percentage). So Paul scores 22 points on 17 field goal attempts per game, while Lance scores 14 points on 11 field goal attempts per game. That gives both of them around 1.2pps, so they are about equally efficient. If you give Lance Stephenson the role on Boston that Paul George has now on Indiana, I think he would surpass Paul George statistically.
Although, admittedly, Paul George's defense doesn't show up in those numbers, but he's definitely a better defender than Lance. But Lance's isn't outright bad, and he has length and quickness for his position.
Topic: 2014 offseason trades/signings (Read 5729 times)