Lance Stephenson Trade Opens the Door for Paul Pierce to Join Los Angeles Clippers

                Doc Rivers doesn’t foresee Lance Stephenson starting at small forward for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2015-16. Stephenson, acquired from the Charlotte Hornets on Monday in exchange for Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes, is expected to serve as a role player, according to Rivers.

             “I like that [Stephenson] can play multiple positions -- really 2, 3 and 1 -- because he’s a terrific passer,” Rivers, the Clippers head coach and Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, told The Beast 980 on Wednesday. “I don’t know if I made the trade for him to be a starter, per se, I look at him really more to be a utility player that can come in and play literally three different positions for us. When you look at us, we needed toughness and more athleticism and we get that.”

            Stephenson had a disastrous 2014-15 campaign after signing a 3-year, $24 million contract with Charlotte last offseason. He averaged just 8.5 points, 3.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds last season, shooting a dreadful 17.1 percent from three-point territory. Stephenson, who led the league in triple doubles in 2013-14, fizzled out in Charlotte, never fitting in with the team’s offense and even recording some DNPs at the tail end of his woeful season.

            Rivers believes Stephenson, who will be 25 years old by the start of next season, has the best chance to right the ship for his career in a backup role in Los Angeles. With Barnes dealt in the trade and Rivers declaring Stephenson a bench player, who will start at small forward for the Clippers?

            Paul Pierce’s name has been thrown around in the Clippers' rumor circles of late. The future first ballot Hall of Famer is coming off a strong postseason for the Washington Wizards, averaging 14.6 points on just 9.9 shots per contest. He led all players in three-point shooting, hitting an incredulous 52.4 percent of his jumpers from behind the arc. Overall, he shot 48.5 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free-throw line. Pierce hit seemingly every clutch shot he attempted for Washington, most notably his buzzer-beating, “I Called Game”, dagger against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.

            Pierce and Rivers won a championship together with the Boston Celtics in 2007-08 and were a game away from winning the title in 2009-2010. Pierce has a $5.5 million player-option for the upcoming season with the Wizards and has maintained his happiness in D.C. throughout the year.

            Rivers coached Pierce for nine seasons, but could he persuade the small forward—who grew up in Inglewood, Los Angeles—to bolt to the Clippers? Rivers will have to convince Pierce that the Clippers have a better chance at winning the championship than the Wizards. The Clippers have the better team, but the Wizards play in the much weaker Eastern Conference. A title seems like a longshot for either team, but the Clippers present more of an upside for the upcoming season.

Doc Rivers will be courting Paul Pierce this offseason. (Alex Brandon/AP)

              Last offseason, Rivers chose to sign Hawes over Pierce—a terrible decision by a highly respected coach who has had his share of struggles adjusting to the role of player operations. While Pierce is not the type to hold grudges, joining Los Angeles seems less likely now than it did a year ago. 

              A Boston reunion is not out of the question for Pierce either. He wanted to finish his career with the Celtics and was devastated when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets two summers ago. Yet Pierce has continued to have a strong relationship with the city and its fans, and the team’s immense improvement from this past year—coupled with their ample cap space to sign 1-2 top-tier free agents—could lure him back to Boston, where he played the first 15 seasons of his storied career.