Does this impact Granger's future?
It's assumed that the Pacers will let Granger walk as a free agent and re-sign Lance Stephenson if he's within their price range.
Granger is 30 and a half years old coming off a serious knee injury while Lance Stephenson just turned 23 less than a month ago and still has untapped potential.
The only way Granger returns over Stephenson imo is if someone is willing to role the dice and give Stephenson a larger contract based on potential and Granger's stock drops making him the cheaper alternative.
More than likely Granger is gone though and Stephenson will be retained.
G George Hill - 26 years old
G Lance Stephenson - 23 years old
F Paul George - 23 years old
F David West - 32 years old
C Roy Hibbert - 26 years old
That was the starting line up this past season and those are their ages as of today. Odds are the Pacers would prefer to keep the young core together. They almost beat Miami without Granger so it just makes sense to go with Stephenson over Granger in the future. Although, I think Granger will start over Stephenson this season. Which is both good and bad in my opinion. I would like Granger's scoring off the bench because that was the bench's biggest weakness last season but at the same time, bringing Lance Stephenson off the bench will probably save the Pacers a few million when re-signing him. I have a feeling Stephenson would demand a larger contract and more teams would offer him one if he's a starter.