Soon Ben McLemore will go to a team that’s not the Suckramento Kings and we can see how he plays when he’s not trapped on a cursed franchise that destroys the careers of every young player they come across. It’s been four long seasons of McLemore not reaching his potential and now we will find out whether that potential is actually reachable or if Benny Mac was doomed to suck no matter where he went.
That’s assuming he doesn’t re-sign with the Kings. I imagine that all 29 non-Kings teams in the league are infinitely more preferable to Benny Mac and his agent.
McLemore’s problem is that he’s a pure scorer who doesn’t score very much or very efficiently. His turnovers have been higher than his assists every year he’s been in the league except his second year, when he got four more assists than turnovers. It seems like he’d have to be the #1 or #2 option to be most successful, not the #4 or #5 option like he has been for his entire tenure with the Kings. Then again, what team will give him that kind of role after what he’s shown so far in the league? And don’t you think the Kings would have happily given that role to him if he had shown he was worth entrusting with that kind of load on offense? They’re the ones who drafted him – they want him to succeed even if they have very little idea of how to make that happen.
All I know is, I’ll be excited to see McLemore wearing another jersey for at least the first few games of next season. Then he’ll keep sucking and I won’t be excited anymore. Such is life.