The Los Angeles Clippers made a trade for the mercurial Lance Stephenson of the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for center Spencer Hawes and forward Matt Barnes. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports calls it a high-risk, high-reward move, but one that appears needed to be made by both sides.

After a breakout season with the Indiana Pacers two years ago when he averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists for a team that won 56 games and reached the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hornets signed Stephenson to a three-year, $27 million contract.

However, he was an awful fit for a young Hornets team and regressed to averaging 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, while also finding himself out of the rotation completely late in the season.

"Sometimes when you make a trade for a free agent signing, it just doesn't work out for whatever reason. He never fit in great. He is very capable of playing a lot better than he did last year, but for whatever reason, it wasn't a good fit. Sometimes you don't know that until a player actually comes to your team. For whatever reason, he didn't gel," said Hornets general manager Rich Cho.

The deal also allowed the Clippers to unload Hawes' contract, which has three years left on the $23 million, four-year deal he signed last summer with the Clippers. He is coming off his worst season since his rookie year averaging just 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists this past season.

As noted by an Associated Press report, Cho is hopeful that Hawes will rediscover his form in Charlotte, banking on the big man's ability to space the floor, and his passing, areas that the Hornets are desperately lacking.

"He didn't have a very good year last year, but I think he needs to have a comfort level," said Cho.

The Hornets are said to still be evaluating their options with Barnes, who averaged 10.1 points and 4 rebounds this part season. He is slated to make $3.5 million next season.