NBA Trade News for 2014-15 Season: Lance Stephenson Joins Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets has acquired free agent Lance Stephenson for three years who, according to sources, is worth $27 million.

On Wednesday morning, Stephenson signed the deal with Hornets owner Michael Jordan and other team executives, ESPN reported.

The same report noted that the player's contract with the team also included an option for Stephenson to end his four-year stay with the Indiana Pacers.

On July 1st, the Pacers offered Stephenson a five-year contract worth $44 million but he did not accept the deal.

ESPN quoted Stephenson's agent Alberto Ebanks saying: "Lance is forever grateful for all the love he's received from Pacers fans. He is especially grateful to his teammates, [Pacers coach] Frank Vogel, [owner] Herb Simon, the Pacers management and most of all, Larry Bird. While we tried our best to come to the best possible terms for both sides, there was not sufficient flexibility in the terms of the contract, particularly the length of the contract."

Ebanks added that Stephenson will surely miss his former team, his mentor and the city he played for but that he looks forward to making a great contribution for the Hornets come next NBA season.

Stephenson played guard for Indiana and scored a career-high 13.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game for the Pacers in the previous season.

In an interview with CBS Sports, Pacers owner Simon Herb said that the team made Stephenson "wonderful" but that his camp did not think that the Pacers made him a "good" deal.

Sources of ESPN claimed that the Pacers were not willing to offer Stephenson a shorter deal than five years nor were they willing to increase the offer for their former player.

Aside from the two mentioned offers, Stephenson was also wooed by the Dallas Mavericks with a $20-million contract for two years but ESPN sources divulged that Houston did not match the offer for forward Chandler Parsons.

Stephenson, according to ESPN, gained more popularity after he publicly challenged LeBron James during the playoffs. The same report noted that he also figured in a scuffle during the recent playoffs with his teammate Evan Turner.

In an article, Bleacher Report explained that it will be difficult for Indiana to replace Stephenson, who functions as a guard, especially now that they have 14 players under contract who are about $2.5 million under the tax threshold.