Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

At times near the end of the season, Lance Stephenson would defy his own personality and after a big emotional play, gesture towards teammates by pushing both palms to the court. Even as the Bankers Life Fieldhouse decibels reached ear-splitting levels, this was Stephenson's way of telling everyone to "calm down."

Now as the free agency period has entered the weekend, fans anxiously awaiting a resolution between Stephenson and the Indiana Pacers should remember this palms-to-the-floor motion.

Calm down. Everything has happened just as it should.

The Pacers said they would present Stephenson a "fair" offer and not exceed it, and so far have done just that. Stephenson's camp said they would exercise patience during the frenzy of free agency, and also have made good on their promise. So by Saturday, even as Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird and staff appeared in Orlando for the team's first summer league game and Stephenson remained in Indianapolis, still an unrestricted free agent, the distance between the two as well as the slow trickle of relevant news about the proposed five-year, $44 million deal should not be cause for alarm.

Besides the discussions with the Pacers, Stephenson, 23, must wait until the big sharks of free agency open the waters for everyone else.

While LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony search for winning rosters and rising salaries, the middle class of NBA free agents rest in a holding pattern. And while in the eyes of the Pacers' fan base, Stephenson may be the promising four-year veteran capable of dropping a triple-double any night, he is still in fact secondary to James and Anthony in the 2014 free market.

"If we're talking about a deal with the Pacers, I don't know if any of the dominoes have to fall," Stephenson's agent Alberto Ebanks predicted before the start of free agency. "(But) if we were talking about some of the other teams, I would think that those teams are looking to explore the very, very top tier LeBron James and company … so I would think that yes."

Even after the early flares were sent up with the hefty contracts given to Jodie Meeks and Avery Bradley, the reality remains that Stephenson may command what he believes he deserves but still must pause as the superstars of the league dominate the rumor mill.

However, once James, Bosh and especially Anthony — who took meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, teams that reportedly have shown interest in Stephenson — make decisions, the contracts should open up for the rest of the free agents.

Though Stephenson's recent actions suggest nothing has changed in regards to wanting to return to Indiana — he still worked out at the team's practice facility over the past week — he also patiently and thoroughly wants to gauge his value on the market.

"We're in a rush to get a really good deal done," Ebanks has said, "and we're in no rush to enter into something that's short of being a good situation for him and the next team or the current team."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.