5 Reasons why the Memphis Grizzlies should have kept Lance Stephenson

No. 4: He was cheap!

The Memphis Grizzlies did make the right call when they didn’t pick up his $9M team option. They were focused on finding help for Mike Conley and needed as much money as possible.

In the 2016 offseason, Lance Stephenson didn’t even cost half of the team option and was on the market for a long time. In September of 2016, he signed his one-year deal for $1.22M – with only $100,000 guaranteed – with the Pelicans. Then, Indiana picked him up in the middle of last season for three years and $12M. That’s dirt cheap for a player like Stephenson!

After the max signings of Parsons and Conley, the Grizzlies made the following signings:

• James Ennis: two years, $6M.
• Troy Daniels: three years, $10M
• Andrew Harrison: three years, $2.98M

Hypothetically, they could’ve passed on either Troy Daniels or James Ennis to sign Lance to the same deal the Pacers gave him.

While Daniels and Ennis are fine players, they aren’t near Stephenson’s level.