With the big-name players out of the free agency market, free-agent guard Lance Stephenson is drawing interest from several teams, including the Charlotte Hornets and the Dallas Mavericks.
According to Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors, the Hornets could land the former Indiana Pacers as they have shown willingness to spend for free agents this summer.
The Hornets signed unrestricted free agent Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $63 million offer sheet, but the Utah Jazz decided to match. Charlotte also signed Marvin Williams to a two-year contract worth $14 million and Brian Roberts to a two-year contract worth $5.5 million.
Myron believes that Hornets might overpay to acquire Stephenson, who had a breakout year last season when he averaged 13.8 points to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
"The Hornets probably had a strong idea they weren't going to get Hayward from the moment they signed him, since Utah was sending such strong signals that they would match. I think there's a chance they overpay to go after Stephenson, who's probably their next big target," Myron wrote.
Most executives believe that signing Stephenson to a long-term deal is a gamble, but Myron said that the Hornets will be in an ideal situation if they can convince the 23-year-old guard to sign a short-term deal.
"Overpaying seems to be their strategy, frankly, and while it can pay off with a guy like Jefferson, it can be a major gamble. Still, if they make, say, a two-year, $22MM play for Stephenson, I think they'd get him, and they wouldn't be hurt too significantly if he doesn't pan out, since they could cut ties in fairly short order," Myron wrote.
Aside from the Hornets, the Mavericks are still in the race to sign Stephenson, but the Mavs are still reportedly waiting for Stephenson's price tag to drop.
The same strategy worked well for Dallas last season when they successfully signed Monta Ellis to a three-year, $25 million deal, which was below his initial asking price when free agency started last summer.
It is still unknown at this point how much Stephenson is asking for, but he wants a big deal - bigger than the five-year, $44 million offer from the Pacers, which he turned down several weeks ago.
