Nov 19, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacer guardforward Solomon Hill (44) and center Roy Hibbert (55) guard Charlotte Hornets guard Lance Stephenson (1) in the second half. The Indiana Pacers won 88-86 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Trade talks with the Charlotte Hornets to bring back Lance Stephenson have yet to get going, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

Trade market for Lance Stephenson continues to be lean for Charlotte, league sources tell Yahoo. Talks with Indiana yet to gain traction. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 18, 2014

On December 14, Yahoo Sports reported that the Hornets are targeting the Nets and the Pacers as places to offload Stephenson. The reason the trade talks have stalled may have to do with the fact that Charlotte does not want to give away a future first-round pick. Charlotte is four-and-a-half games back from the eighth seed and Stephenson has looked underwhelming since the beginning of the season.

Head coach Steve Clifford benched Lance for Gary Neal in early November due to poor play and not being in rhythm with the rest of the starting lineup.

The per-game shooting averages have also dropped across the board. Stephenson is shooting below 40-percent from the field, 15-percent at the three-point line on 2.1 attempts and only getting to the free-throw line two times per game. The recent play and statistics in a vacuum do not look worthy of giving up players and not receiving a first-round pick with it. Even if it’s just talks, Indiana’s front office is backed by the owner here.

Pacers owner Herb Simon said he is fine with Larry Bird and the front office pursuing a trade to bring back Lance Stephenson.

“First of all, we don’t know if they’re really trading him, at least I don’t know,” Simon said about the Hornets. “I know they made some calls and we would have to (figure out) how he fits back into the team. Those are all basketball decisions and Larry and Kevin (Pritchard) are the best to answer that.

Indiana knows Lance better than any team in the league. They have the support system here that worked the past three years but in my opinion it appears this will stay in the “talks” period and not advance.

UPDATE: Chris Broussard of ESPN reported that Indiana remains interested, but Charlotte isn’t getting any good offers — from the Pacers or anyone else — for Lance Stephenson, so the Hornets will “keep him for now.”