Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons Lance Stephenson was a bad signing

LAS VEAGS, NV - JULY 17: Magic Johnson President of Basketball Operations and Lance Stephenson of the Los Angeles Lakers talk during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 17, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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3. Stephenson’s terrible defense

To say Lance Stephenson leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end would be a huge understatement.

He has terrible stats in almost all defensive metrics:

When talking about the free agency signings that followed LeBron, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said, “We did not want to go out and just sign specialists, like, ‘Oh, this guy can just shoot.’ We wanted tough, two-way players that can defend with a level of toughness and also make shots.”

Given the statistics I provided above, it’s easy to see the irony and hypocrisy in Pelinka’s explanation in regards to Stephenson. Pelinka does give somewhat valid credit to Stephenson on the defensive end, saying that Stephenson will “agitate you” on defense. That may be true (just ask LeBron), but are those momentary agitations worth a resumé of far below average defense?

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