How the LA Clippers Can Maximize Lance Stephenson Next Season

Lance Stephenson has to be one of the Los Angeles Clippers' most important players this season, but that doesn't mean LA should displace him from his comfort zone.

In actuality, Stephenson is built to be a bench player, similarly to the way Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel used him during his days in Indy.

But wait...Lance STARTED during the end of his run with Indiana! What are you talking about when you say the Pacers used him as a bench player?

Very astute, young one. But here's the caveat: Vogel rotated Stephenson as if he were a reserve even when he was playing with the first unit.

He was the initial starter to come off the floor, usually once the first quarter was about halfway done. He would come back in to run the bench unit's offense. He'd still close games and defend 1s, 2s and 3s depending on the opponent and the status of Paul George.

The Clippers could use him similarly but actually do it off the bench.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

J.J. Redick has to start at the 2, considering his importance to coach Doc Rivers' schemes. Few other players around the league, maybe only Kyle Korver, run off screens as effectively as him. Of course, the Clippers offense is bound for an identity change with DeAndre Jordan reportedly gone, per ESPN's Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon, and with whomever replaces him entering the lineup. 

Paul Pierce, who agreed to come to LA last week, per Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, will start at the 3, but the Clippers would be prudent to rest him for the weaker night of back-to-backs. It would be silly to wear Pierce out, even with a bench that is likely to be quite thin.

With Jordan gone, this team still has a shot at the postseason, as any team with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the roster would. But even when Pierce sits, Rivers can slot the newly acquired Wesley Johnson—who committed to a deal Tuesday, per RealGM's Shams Charania—into the 3-spot instead of Stephenson.

Stephenson at his peak is a better player than Johnson. There's no doubt about that. But even if you're pitted against a team that wouldn't be able to take advantage of an undersized Lance at the 3, it would still be smartest to stick Johnson into the starting lineup on the rare occasions when Pierce will be dressing in street clothes.

Part of the brilliance in the way Vogel deployed Stephenson was the consistency and rigidity in his role.

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

He took advantage of his tremendous ball-handling skills or his point guard-esque vision. He let him run wild on the glass, becoming one of the NBA's most effective rebounding guards. He used his defensive versatility to match him up against all sorts of opposing perimeter threats.

In the process, Stephenson became a borderline All-Star, someone who many were genuinely upset didn't get onto the team inside a weak Eastern Conference during 2014. It all happened as Vogel kept his duties invariable.

That's some of the reason he flopped in Charlotte. The Hornets couldn't find a comfortable, steady role for him.

The Hornets wondered: would he succeed off the ball given his historically bad three-point shooting? Could he contribute handling it even though the Charlotte offense proved more efficient when Kemba Walker was the one running it?

So, Stephenson floated between two gigs, found himself going in and out of the lineup and eventually fell to the bottom of coach Steve Clifford's rotation.

The Clippers don't have a backup point guard as of now. (Yes, I'm aware Lester Hudson is signed on a non-guaranteed deal. That doesn't count.) Stephenson can/should be that guy, even if they end up bringing back Austin Rivers on a deal that could be up to $3.1 million for 2015-16.

Let's even paint a scenario in which his shooting remains as poor as it was last year. He had the worst three-point percentage of anyone ever with at least 100 attempts. Does the team still have any other choice?

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

If it moves into training camp with Hudson as its second point guard, who else is supposed to run the second unit? Plus, it's reasonable to expect that a guy with Lance's talent isn't going to put up one of the worst shooting performances ever...again. That can't happen, right? Right?? 

Right???

When you put your most fragile china in a moving box, you don't just throw it in the truck and hope it gets to wherever it's going fine.

You buy bubble wrap. You overcompensate with the amount you use when wrapping and duct taping the plates and bowls. You gently and strategically place it in the box, which you seal up with a little more care than you would the container that's filled with books or DVDs.

The Clippers potentially have a nice set of china coming from Charlotte. But they have to be gentle with it so as not to shatter it before they even have a chance to bust it out for when they host the whole family for the holidays.

A soon-to-be 25-year-old Stephenson can turn around his career after just one down season. He just needs the environment to do so.

Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.

All statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless noted otherwise.