Pacers Re-Sign Lance Stephenson To A Second 10-Day Hardship Contract

The Indiana Pacers announced on Tuesday that they have signed guard Lance Stephenson to a second 10-day contract.

Per the team’s release, the contract is a hardship deal permitted due to the NBA’s COVID-related hardship exception. Because the Pacers still had multiple players in COVID-19 health and safety protocols at the time of signing Stephenson, they were granted an extra roster spot to bring in the 31-year old guard.

Stephenson, who is in the midst of his third stint with Indiana, has been a bright spot for the blue and gold during an otherwise poor stretch from the team. The Pacers have won just one game since Christmas and currently sit fifth-to-last in the NBA standings, things have gone poorly for the team since a three-game win streak in mid-December.

But Stephenson has been effective and a gem for the squad. Since being originally brought in on January 1, the 10-year veteran has posted averages of 14.2 points and 5.0 assists per contest. He scored 30 points in a single game for the blue and gold last Wednesday and followed that up with a career-high 14 assist game just three nights later. Wins haven’t been plentiful for the Pacers recently, but they have played their opponents to an even draw with Stephenson on the court since he joined the team. He was handy in his first five game stint with the team.

“He’s great. He’s making everyone’s job easier,” Pacers All-Star center Domantas Sabonis said of Stephenson. “He has a swag that goes around that everyone wants to be a part of, so it’s been really good for us.”

That’s why, despite being out of the NBA for the prior two seasons, the Pacers decided to keep Stephenson around. He has been good for the team, and he has uplifted the spirit of his team. That’s something he does well even when his on-court impact fades — he is very popular in the Pacers locker room.

Stephenson projects to be a reserve for the Pacers for the next ten days while players return from health and safety protocols. Once most of the team is back and available again, however, it isn’t clear how the 6-foot-6-inch guard will be used. A lot will be learned about Stephenson’s potential role on Indiana once his current 10-day deal is done, but he has earned an opportunity to play with a healthier Pacers squad.

“He’s earned it, certainly. He’s injected some personality and life into our situation that’s been really great,” Rick Carlisle said of bringing back the 10-year pro. “Happy for him, he worked hard.”

Should the Pacers want to retain Stephenson once the University of Cincinnati product’s hardship deal is up on January 20, they will have to assess their options. Since the team moved on from forward Kelan Martin a few days ago, they have an available roster spot that Stephenson could slide right in to.

But the team has multiple paths they could take with that roster spot. They could choose to sign Stephenson to a minimum contract, and that deal could span one or two seasons. Indiana recently did something similar with Keifer Sykes, and they put a team option on the second season of that contract.

Pacers brass could also decide to use the remainder of their taxpayer mid-level exception on “Born Ready,” as he is called. They could do that to give the brawny guard a pay bump for the rest of this season or to add two additional seasons to the end of Stephenson’s deal. The front office could even do both, though Stephenson likely doesn’t have the leverage to get a big money contract that spans multiple seasons.

A final option the Pacers have is to sign Stephenson to a standard 10-day contract once his hardship deal is up. Unlike COVID-related hardship contracts, standard 10-day deals count against the salary cap, so Stephenson would have a small cap hit if the Pacers choose to go this route. The team could opt to sign Stephenson to a pair of 10-day deals prior to the trade deadline to maximize their flexibility going forward, but the guard could demand that he gets his guaranteed money up front. He has played well enough to make that request.

The specific path the Pacers and Stephenson elect to take after his current 10-day deal expires is unclear, but Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that Indiana is expected to keep Stephenson for the rest of the season. How exactly the Pacers do that won’t be known for more than a week, but Stephenson has earned an extended stint in Indiana, and his new 10-day hardship contract affirmed that Pacers brass feels the same.